Efficient and environmentally responsible biomass use is central to sustainable development and key to delivering an effective circular economy, an efficient bio-economy and expanded renewable energy deployment.
The cascading use concept can be applied to multiple different material streams, such as plastics, agriculural residues and woody biomass. This study focuses specifically on woody biomass with objectives to:
- Define the cascading use of wood and assess the environmental and socio-economic impacts of its implementation;
- Identify and assess the impacts of barriers to wider application of the cascading principle in the EU Member States; and
- Identify possible policy measures (that can be adapted to local conditions) to overcome key barriers identified them in the European Union.
The results of the study will serve as a basis to develop good practice guidance on the cascading use of wood for policy-makers and value chain stakeholders. The project is carried out by BTG Biomass Technology Group (Enschede, The Netherlands), INFRO Information systems for resources (Celle, Germany), IEEP Institute for European Environmental Policy (London, United Kingdom), INTECUS Abfallwirtschaft und umweltintegratives Management (Dresden, Germany) and the nova-Institute.