Promoting circular bioeconomy and the circulation of materials, nutrients, and energy flows in the urban environment is at the heart of the CITISYSTEM – Supporting cities in sustainable biobased systemic change project (Interreg Europe 2023). In order to boost the knowledge exchange among the project partners and stakeholders, and to inspire the biobased circular economy development and systemic change thinking, the project organizes thematic webinars. The first Challenges and Solutions for Biobased Circular Systems in Cities -webinar was organized in June 2023.
Circular Approach in Construction
Ιο Chatzivaryti, Mayor’s Advisor in EU projects, Municipality of Kavala, presented the circular economy case study of Kavala, from a public sector perspective. The case served as an inspiration for systemic thinking that could be adopted in other sectors. The municipality designed a vision and a roadmap for an integrated approach, reutilization of construction and demolition waste to close the loop, and its inclusion in green procurements in Greece. Capitalizing on the knowledge exchange and continual review and adjustment of planned actions were among the key enablers. (Chatzivaryti 2023.)
Biodiversity loss & Food Production
Ville Uusitalo (2023), Associate professor at LUT, emphasized the important aspects of biobased circular systems in terms of biodiversity loss, including food production and consumption. Ambitious biodiversity targets have been set up by companies, but impact quantification of their actions is lacking. A research project BIODIFUL – Biodiversity Respectful Leadership looks at biodiversity assessment methodology. Link to BIODIFUL website
Among the key direct drivers for biodiversity loss are land use change, followed by resource exploitation and intensifying climate change. Food and beverages have a key role in global land use (46% of the habitable land for agriculture) and resource exploitation. (Ritchie & Roser 2019.) Therefore, food production has a great role (over 50%) in our consumption-based biodiversity footprint (Kurth at al. 2021). For instance, meat and cheese production are among the products with the highest biodiversity impact (60%). (Crenna et al. 2019, 383.)
Biorefineries
The PULINA project explores wastewater (WW) treatment plants through circular economy lenses, aiming to transform the WW plants into economically viable biorefineries. WW sludge can be utilized for biogas, bioethanol, and biodiesel production, PHA extraction, nutrients recovery (fertilizers, soil amendments), and as a source of other valuable components (VFA, metals, lignin, cellulose, CO2, etc.). The potentially present hazardous substances (heavy metals, microplastics, pathogens, drug residues, etc.), legislation, and low profitability are the main barriers to scaling up, noted Mari Eronen, a researcher at LAB. (Eronen 2023.) Link to PULINA website
The BIOSYKLI project promoted bio-based circular economy by developing low-carbon solutions and new sustainable businesses in Päijät-Häme. For instance, by recycling carbon from WW sludge for PHA production used in bioplastics, and thus turn bioplastics into carbon sinks. (Eronen 2023.) Link to BIOSYKLI website
Mikko Rahtola, RDI specialist in LAB, introduced the 5R Refinery project, which aims at efficient utilization and valorisation of side and waste streams from forestry and WW sludge to create new business opportunities, such as biofertilizers and hydroxy acids. (Rahtola 2023.) Link to 5R Refinery website
Author
Katerina Medkova works as an RDI Specialist at LAB University of Applied Sciences and is CITISYSTEM Project Manager. CITISYSTEM – Supporting cities in sustainable biobased systemic change is an Interreg Europe co-funded project led by LAB University of Applied Sciences, Finland. The CITISYSTEM partnership consists of seven partners from Finland (2 partners), Slovakia, Slovenia, Belgium, Greece, and Spain. There are two partners in Finland, LAB University of Applied Sciences, who acts as a lead partner, and the City of Lahti.
References
AndreasAux. 2014. Environmental protection. Pixabay. Cited 14 Sep 2023. Available at https://pixabay.com/photos/environmental-protection-326923/
Chatzivaryti, I. 2023. Advancing Circular Economy in Public Works- The case study of Kavala. Presentation given at the CITISYSTEM Thematic Webinar 1 on 16 Jun 2023, online.
Crenna, E., Sinkko, T., Sala, S. 2019. Biodiversity impacts due to food consumption in Europe. Journal of Cleaner Production. Vol. 227. 378-391. Cited 18 Sep 2023. Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.054
Eronen, M. 2023. Bio-based Circular Economy in Päijät Häme & PULINA project focusing on nutrient recovery from municipal sewage sludge. Presentation given at the CITISYSTEM Thematic Webinar 1 on 16 Jun 2023, online.
Interreg Europe. 2023. CITISYSTEM – Supporting cities in sustainable biobased systemic change. Cited 11 Sep 2023. Available at https://www.interregeurope.eu/citisystem
Kurth, T., Wübbels, G., Portafaix, A., Meyer zum Felde, A. & Zielcke, S. 2021. The Biodiversity Crisis Is a Business Crisis. Boston Consulting Group. Cited 18 Sep 2023. Available at https://www.bcg.com/publications/2021/biodiversity-loss-business-implications-responses
Rahtola, M. 2023. Insights from the 5R Refinery project. Presentation given at the CITISYSTEM Thematic Webinar 1 on 16 Jun 2023, online.
Ritchie, H. & Roser, M. 2019. Land Use. Our World In Data. Cited 18 Sep 2023. Available at https://ourworldindata.org/land-use#how-the-world-s-land-is-used-total-area-sizes-by-type-of-use-cover
Uusitalo, V. 2023. Assessing biodiversity impacts of biobased circular systems. Presentation given at the CITISYSTEM Thematic Webinar 1 on 16 Jun 2023, online.
Links
Link 1. BIODIFUL. 2021. BIODIFUL – LUMOAVA Biodiversity Respectful Leadership. Cited 12 Sep 2023. Available at https://biodiful.fi/en/research-project/
Link 2. LAB. 2023a. Puhdistamolietteen arvokomponentit. Cited 14 Sep 2023. Available at https://lab.fi/en/project/puhdistamolietteen-arvokomponentit
Link 3. LAB. 2023b. BIOSYKLI – Päijät-Hämeen biokiertotalous. Cited 14 Sep 2023. Available at https://lab.fi/en/project/biosykli-paijat-hameen-biokiertotalous
Link 4. LAB. 2023c. 5R Refinery. Cited 14 Sep 2023. Available at https://lab.fi/en/project/5r-refinery
Link 5. Interreg Europe. 2023. Project Summary. CITISYSTEM. Cited 11 Sep 2023. Available at https://www.interregeurope.eu/citisystem
