A circular bioeconomy in a Forest biorefinery: Oxymorons or viable sustainability strategies?

Abstract

Enhancing the bioeconomy is high on the political agenda of many countries and visible in the communications of companies in forest based industries. Bioeconomy promises to help reduce the use of non-renewable natural resources and contribute to reduced greenhouse emissions, but these promises are not always clearly validated. Another concept driven by global raw material pressures is the circular economy offering solutions for a system approaching a closed loop, where by design the products are reused, refurbished or recycled rather than disposed of as waste. In recent times, these two attractive concepts have been combined to circular bioeconomy, which emphasizes the need for sparing use of renewable resources. Biorefineries are often seen as essential building blocks in a bioeconomy and even circular bioeconomy. However, a biorefinery only represents one single step in the production chain which can be either linear or circular depending on the later stages of the value chain. Therefore, it is oxymoronic to discuss circular economy in the context of biorefineries. On the other hand, there are potential developments in biorefineries which by design enhance their participation in a circular system. Using existing cases in Finland and Sweden, we analyze the possibilities for biorefineries to become an increasingly important element of a circular bioeconomy, the barriers met and the policies needed to support the development.