Bioeconomy and circular bioeconomy

Bioeconomy refers to an economic system in which fossil raw materials and energy sources are systematically replaced by renewable biogenic resources. It encompasses all sectors that produce, process or utilise biological raw materials - from agriculture and forestry to chemicals, energy, construction and textiles. However, simply replacing all fossil materials with bio-based substances would require between 0.9 and 3.8 million hectares of additional land in Austria. In order to preserve as much land as possible as a natural area and cultural landscape, for agricultural and forestry production and as a carbon and water reservoir, measures must therefore be taken to reduce further land consumption by settlement and transport areas as well as newly sealed surfaces. In addition to efficiency, sufficiency measures and circular concepts are therefore key pillars of a bioeconomy strategy and sustainable production and consumption. In conjunction with the principles of the circular economy, renewable materials are also utilised in a cascading manner, waste is viewed as a new resource and products are designed in such a way that reuse, repair, recycling and ultimately energy recovery are possible. The aim is to ensure a good life within planetary boundaries by conserving resources.

Strategies in Europe and Austria

• The EU presented its Bioeconomy Strategy („Innovating for Sustainable Growth“) back in 2012; it is currently being revised and is due to be finalised in 2026. The strategy addresses resource scarcity, climate change and security of supply.

• Austria followed suit in 2019 with a national bioeconomy strategy and a bioeconomy action plan (since 2022) with 112 measures in eleven fields of action (available at www.bioeco.at). In addition, the National Circular Economy Strategy of 2022 focuses on ten R-strategies and seven transformation priorities - including biomass and the construction industry.

• A central implementation instrument for the Austrian bioeconomy strategy is the Platform Bioeconomy Austria (2025-2028), an Austria-wide innovation ecosystem that networks clusters, regions and companies. 

Projects and initiatives in Austria

Showcase projects presented:

• InnoWAP (BOKU Tulln): Decentralised biorefinery for aquatic and marsh plants, use for paper, packaging and textiles.

• RURBANIVE (alchemia-nova): EU Horizon project for rural-urban innovation spaces and circular bioeconomy.

Relevant initiatives:

• BioBASEConsulting and innovation platform for material flow analyses, regional bioeconomy strategies and new raw material paths.

• Bioeconomy Austria Summit (annual): Networking of companies, research and politics, 2025 on 12 November in Vienna.

These projects show how regional value creation, resource conservation and new business models go hand in hand.

Speakers and organisations

• Armin WinterUniversity of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Institute of Chemistry of Renewable Resources boku.ac.at/centre-for-bioeconomics

• Tamara Vobruba & Christina Bertl, alchemia-nova - RURBANIVE project

• Thomas Timmel, BioBASE GmbH

• Florian Kamleitner, ecoplus - Lower Austria's business agency, Project Manager Bioeconomy Austria

• Josef GaldbergerFederal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management (BMLUK), Integrated Product Policy department

Here you can download the presentation of the last Circular Cities & Regions Roundtable to the topic "Regional and urban circular bioeconomy" download.