ACTPAC and the European Bioeconomy: Presenting and Observing at the EU Workshop in Brussels on Bio-Based Innovation, Biotechnology, Life Sciences, and Digital Solutions.
Co-organised jointly by the European Commission, DG RTD, Directorate B, Unit B1 ‘Green Transitions’, and REA units B3 ‘Biodiversity, Circular Economy and Environment’, and B4 ‘Agrifood Promotion, Environmental Observation and Innovative Governance’, the Expert Workshop on bio-based innovation, biotechnology, life sciences and digital solutions took place on 15 May 2025 in Brussels. As one of the 13 selected EU-funded projects under Horizon Europe, Zheng Guo, as the coordinator of the ACTPAC, together with the consortium secretary Tina Kousted, were invited to attend and give a talk on the ACTPAC project.
The main aim of the workshop was to obtain input from experts on future European policies, particularly with regard to the life sciences strategy, the biotechnology act and the bioeconomy strategy. The workshop also provided an excellent opportunity to promote interaction between sister projects, facilitate networking among professionals working in the same community or similar fields, and identify gaps between calls and the implementability of proposals for future programming.
As a result of the workshop, a report is generated which captures the main discussion points and suggestions from the invited experts. The discussions and inputs are focused on 4 guiding questions: 1) Regulatory barriers in legislative challenges/inconsistencies; 2) R&I gaps and needs/opportunities in advancing technology/solution closer to the market; 3) Technical barriers in advancing to higher TRL, and 4) Financial barriers/needs in access to public/private capital and upscaling
On behalf of ACTPAC, Prof. Zheng Guo provided comments and suggestions concerning the following aspects, among others:
1) New regulations and specifications should be considered for new chemicals and materials, as these biochemicals and materials are produced from environmental waste and biowaste, and may not be included in the existing product list. This issue is highly relevant to the ACTPAC outcomes, as many new products will be generated by the ACTPAC project.
2) Guo emphasised the novelty, flexibility and scalability of waste-PE derived products generated by the ACTPAC project. These products are attractive to investors due to their ease of implementation, competitive CPI and unique properties that fill gaps in the market.
This is the first time that the ACTPAC project has contributed to EU public policy, and a good opportunity to interact face-to-face with other relevant EU project researchers and extend the ACTPAC EU network.
Author: Zheng Guo
Keywords
Horizon Europe, EU workshop, Bioeconomy Strategy, Biotechnology Act, Life Sciences Strategy, Bio-based Innovation, Environmental Biotechnology,
