December started with great news: the European Commission and the Bio-based Industries Consortium combined efforts to launch Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking: CBE JU is the legal and universal successor of BBI JU in respect of all contracts, grant agreements and liabilities. The new established public-private collaboration is operating under the rules of Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation programme for the 2021-2031 period. The partnership is building on the success of its predecessor, the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), while addressing the current challenges facing the industry.
In an up-and-down year of restrictions and cancellations, virtual events and online meetings have been of great help in carrying out the planned work, but above all in enabling networking opportunities with other organisations and projects.
In 2021 the GRETE project team had several opportunities to meet other interesting initiatives and people, sharing ambitions, future perspectives, results achieved and expected contributions to EU policies.
An excellent moment of exchange with the Glaukos project was made possible thanks to Veltha‘s initiative “LOOPS 2.0 #3: Circular solutions improving the life cycle of textiles”.
During the discussion Veronica Sarbach from consortium partner Materially, had the chance to explain the GRETE approach in contributing to the implementation of a circular economy while lowering the impact of the current cellulose-based textile industry. How the GRETE technologies support growth and industrialization across Europe, strengthening the link between science and policy-makers, and overall help answering the challenges addressed in the European Bioeconomy 2030.
The recording of the webinar is available on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Euz8XN01lw&t=243s
Gabriel Sousa from consortium partner Celbi (Altri Group) had the chance to introduce the GRETE project to the participants of session 4 of the Tecnicelpa Innovation Talks.. Tecnicelpa, the portuguese association of technicians of the pulp and paper industries, organised the online talks to provide an overview for the forest-based industry on the most recent innovation management trends and how they’re shaping the global economy.
Find the recordings of all discussion rounds on their YouTube channel https://youtube.com/watch?v=7sLMFw9f_n0
Before concluding and wishing you happy holidays we want to share the upcoming events to add to your agenda:
The International Conference on Cellulose Fibres, will be held as a hybrid event on February 2 and 3. The program reflects the ongoing developments of industry and research in the wood-to-textile value chain; several GRETE consortium partners will be present.
The second opportunity for GRETE to present the project and continue its networking activities is given by the BIOSWITCH sector-based webinars addressed to those interested in switching from fossil-based to bio-based approaches. The webinar with the participation of GRETE is scheduled for February 8th – “Bio-based textiles”.
The GRETE consortium wishes you a happy, healthy and more sustainable 2022.
We all wish for a better future: European science and research is contributing to offering green chemicals and technologies for the wood-to-textile value chain.
