63 BIC industry member CEOs and C-level representatives have signed an open letter addressed EU Commissioners calling for a stronger recognition of the bio-based sector in the EU's green recovery.
BIC has also published a position paper on the green recovery which can be consulted here.
The bio-based industries - key to the green recoveryCalling for a stronger recognition of the bio-based sectorDear Executive First Vice-President Timmermans, Dear Commissioner Wojciechowski, Dear Commissioner Gabriel, Dear Commissioner Ferreira, Dear Commissioner Sinkevičius, Dear Commissioner Breton, Europe is undergoing an unprecedented crisis and the impacts are felt in all aspects of our daily lives. While our society is facing challenging times, the bio-based industries welcome the immediate reaction from the European Commission to formulate a common response to the crisis and its economic consequences. With about 700 billion EUR turnover and 3.6 million people employed, the bio-based industries are helping to alleviate the impact of the crisis by keeping essential services running and maintaining green jobs. Our companies are providing much-needed supplies such as food and feed ingredients, (compostable) packaging, hand sanitisers, masks, tissues, and energy from renewable feedstock. The future impacts of the crisis are unpredictable. What is predictable, however, is that climate change will not halt if we do not take action. Reducing Europe’s dependency on fossil-based resources, sustaining healthy ecosystems and reaching the climate neutrality goal will require better integration across sectors to create more circular and innovative bio-based solutions. To quote President von der Leyen, the European Green Deal is “an opportunity to rebuild our economies differently and make them more resilient”. The bio-based sector can help by turning the crisis into new opportunities for green growth and by being a strong partner in the EU’s green economic recovery. We are integrating ‘traditional’ industrial sectors into innovative value chains in making the European bioeconomy the global leader. We sustainably use domestic renewable feedstock from agriculture, forestry and fisheries as well as residues and bio-waste, and process it in state-of-the-art biorefineries to provide bio-based solutions for our customers and consumers. We help to improve food security, foster circularity, stimulate rural development and maintain green jobs in EU regions. It is necessary to build on the positive impacts of the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) and to fully implement the EU Bioeconomy Strategy. To enable our industry to fully deploy its potential, the European Green Deal should better recognise the importance of the bioeconomy and support the private-public partnership ‘Circular Bio-based Europe’. Only together can private and public sectors ensure that economic recovery and green growth go hand in hand. Our companies are committed to investing in circular and innovative bio-based solutions in Europe, paving the way to a more sustainable and resilient future. |
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Ismael Roig President |
AEP Polymers Alan Patrick Giles CEO |
Algae 4 Future Nuno Coelho CEO |
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AlgaEnergy S.A Augusto Rodríguez-Villa Matons President |
API Europe MEPE Theodora Retsina CEO |
Arbiom Marc Chevrel President |
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BE-Basic Foundation Abraham Brouwer Managing Director |
Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant Wim Soetaert CEO |
BioEconomy Cluster Matthias Zscheile CEO |
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Bio-Mi Filip Miketa CEO |
Biosphere S.r.l Mario Riciputi Chairman of the Board |
Biotrend Bruno Sommer Ferreira CEO |
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BioVale Sarah Hickingbottom CEO |
Borregaard Per Arthur Sørlie President and CEO |
Capax Biobased Development Bart Tambuyser CEO |
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Cellicon Ton Runneboom CEO |
Celtic Renewables Ltd. Mark Simmers CEO |
Centro Ricerche per la Chimica Fine S.r.l Samuele Giovando CEO |
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ChainCraft Niels van Stralen Co-founder and Director |
Circular Biobased Delta Willem Sederel Chairman of the Board |
Clariant Hariolf Kottmann Executive Chairman |
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CLIB - Cluster Industrielle Biotechnologie Dennis Herzberg Managing Director and Cluster Manager |
CLIC Innovation Oy Jatta Jussila CEO |
Consorzio Italbiotec Diego Bosco CEO |
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Olivier Rigaud CEO |
Cosun Albert Markusse CEO |
CTA - Corporación Tecnológica de Andalucía Elias Atienza CEO |
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Dutch Biorefinery Cluster Ger Willems Chair of the Board |
EnginZyme Karim Engelmark Cassimjee CEO |
Evonik Industries Ulrich Küsthardt CIO |
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Jose Luis Moya CEO |
FiberLean Technologies Ltd Paris Kyriacopoulos CEO |
Flanders’ Food Inge Arents Managing Director |
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Fortum Oyj Pekka Lundmark President and CEO |
Glanbia Ireland DAC Jim Bergin CEO |
Graanul Invest AS Raul Kirjanen CEO |
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GreenWin Véronique Graff Managing Director
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IAR, the French Bioeconomy Cluster Yvon Le Hénaff Chairman of the Board |
IBioIC Mark Bustard CEO |
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InnovEn S.r.l Fausto Tagliaferro President |
Irish Bioeconomy Foundation Stephen Napier CEO |
Kaneka Europe Holding Company NV and Kaneka Belgium NV Shinji Mizusawa President |
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LanzaTech Inc.
Jennifer Holmgren CEO |
MBio, Innovation arm of Monaghan Mushrooms Peter Corcoran CEO |
Metabolic EXplorer Benjamin Gonzalez CEO |
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Alex Michine CEO |
Metsä Group Ilkka Hämälä President and CEO |
Natac Biotech SL Antonio Delgado CEO |
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Neste Corp. Peter Vanacker President and CEO |
Norske Skog Golbey Yves Bailly Managing Director |
Nova Pangaea Technologies (UK) Ltd Sarah Ellerby Chief Executive
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Catia Bastioli CEO |
Novozymes Ester Baiget Arnau CEO |
OLEON SAS Moussa Naciri President |
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Process Design Centre Hans Keuken Managing Director |
Royal DSM Dimitri de Vreeze Co-CEO & Managing Board Member |
Sappi Europe SA Berend John Wiersum CEO |
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Södra Peter Karlsson President/CEO |
Stora Enso Annica Bresky President and CEO |
Südzucker Thomas Kirchberg, COO & Member of the Executive Board |
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SUSPACC Bart Labrie President |
Unilever Peter ter Kulve President, Home Care |
UPM Kymmene Corporation Jussi Pesonen President and CEO |
The open letter was also published in Politico here.
