The project will address the potential for value added and improved sustainability in the valorisation of organic waste streams, residual feedstock and by-products (short: OW) by analysing value chains inside and across different sectors of the bioeconomy.

We will analyse a number of industrial cases from different parts of the bioeconomy and collaborate with highly relevant industry actors and technology experts. The project will help
policymakers better govern and regulate the OW industry and the industry actors to identify and exploit new opportunities in the bioeconomy.

The project has following main objectives:

• map industrial capabilities and research & human resources in the OW related industries, and consider whether and where policy intervention may be needed.
• help industrial actors to identify possible pathways to increase their rate of innovation and value added from OW related activities.
• carry out life cycle assessments and comparative analyses of environmental performance of OW value chains and selected case studies to help government and companies to select environmentally beneficial resources, products and production processes.
• assess how the regulatory framework influences the management of organic waste streams in Norway and in other Scandinavian countries and how the governance systems support innovation, industrial development and sustainability.

Our project focuses on innovative and sustainable exploitation of OW. It contributes to the further development of the Norwegian bioeconomy by collaborating with close to ten companies engaged in OW activities. It addresses value chain development and the circular bioeconomy by combining value chain analysis, innovation systems and transition theory and environmental life cycle assessment. The project is based on interdisciplinary collaboration between research groups specializing in innovation, environmental research and value chain analysis and relevant technologies, located in Scandinavia.