The European Green Week – How projects such as SSUCHY play a role in protecting biodiversity ?
Every Year takes place the EU Green Week, one of the main European event dedicated to environmental policy. From 19th to the 22nd of October 2020, various virtual events are organized including a launching Event in Lisbon, 3 days of conferences and various virtual stands hosted by prestigious groups and institutions. The following article is describing how SSUCHY and its associated public-private partnership BBI-JU are contributing to green recovery
The European Green Week initiative
This year, the European Green week will highlight nature and biodiversity in close link to Europe’s recovery after the COVID-19 crisis. During the whole week, discussions will focus on the role of EU policies, such as the European Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy, in creating jobs and sustainable growth, while protecting and restoring nature. The 2020 Edition of the European Green Week will also act as a milestone on the path to COP 15, the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, due to take place next year in Kunming, Yunnan Province (China), where world leaders will gather and adopt a new global deal for people and nature.
SSUCHY’s contribution to develop more sustainable bio-based approach
Hemp Fiber
Bio-based sandwich composite : Woven Hemp-based reinforcement + Paper honeycomb
SSUCHY, by contributing to the set-up and demonstration of a complete value chain – from field to the end products in different application sectors, is valorising natural and renewable resources. The projects, which aims to develop biobased composites is based on two pillars: the development of hemp-based reinforcement and the valorisation of wood fractionation by-products in building blocks for bio-based polymers applications.
Hemp field
Hemp is indeed a good candidate to contribute to the development of the biobased sector while protecting biodiversity. It is a sustainable high yielding crop, very adaptable, growing worldwide and well adapted to most European conditions. Hemp possesses a vigorous growth, a high shading capacity and disease resistance, that allow a growth without the use of herbicide, pesticide or fungicide. By requirering very low fertilizer inputs, limited interventions and little manpower requirements for farming, such crop is a perfect candidate to develop organic agriculture practiced.
SSUCHY’s approach is therefore highly compatible with protected sites such as Natura 2000, aiming to create area “[…] largely centered on people working with nature rather than against It”. Not only the project worked towards cultivation of hemp crops and valorisation of wood by-products, but it also developed processes with reduced energy consumption and environmental impact by including academic and SME/industry partners all along the value chain.
Following the significant impacts of the current BBI-JU, its founding partners, the Biobased Industry Consortium, put together an even more ambitious plan : the European Partnership for Circular Bio-based Europe (CBE). At the heart of CBE, the observation that many national or regional bioeconomy strategies are lacking qualitative and quantitative criteria to evaluate the global impacts of new bioeconomy innovation-related projects. Therefore, CBE will continue to actively support the biorefinery deployment in Europe and reinforce its objectives regarding the protection of the environment including biodiversity. To fulfill that ambition, the program will continue to involve all stakeholders, notably primary producers and reinforce its demands towards future projects to define and implement relevant environmental and socioeconomic indicators.
More information on the Bio-based industries and the green recovery : https://www.politico.eu/sponsored-content/eu-green-week-bio-based-industries-and-the-green-recovery/