From innovation to impact in 2025: scaling solutions, expanding reach — Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU)
The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) has released its overview of 2025, and the numbers point to a bioeconomy sector that is maturing fast, moving projects from lab scale innovation into real industrial output across the continent.
Record demand for funding
The 2025 call for proposals drew unprecedented interest: 240 eligible applications were submitted, together requesting more than €1.4 billion in funding. Small and medium sized enterprises made up around a third of all applicants, and newcomers to the programme accounted for 45% of applications, a strong signal that the bio-based ecosystem is expanding well beyond its established base.
Widening participation across Europe
CBE JU has been actively working to bring in participants from historically underrepresented countries and regions. Applications from the 15 widening countries grew faster in 2025 than from other Member States, and the programme is now on track toward its 2030 targets: 106 newcomer participants out of a 150 target, 50 primary producers reaching the halfway mark of their goal, and waste manager involvement already at target level, with brand owner participation nearly complete (47 of 50).
Projects moving from construction to operation
Several flagship projects hit major milestones in 2025:
- SUSTAINEXT broke ground on a new biorefinery in Hervás, Spain.
- VIOBOND completed the foundations for what will be Europe’s first commercially viable bio-based resin plant in Riga, Latvia, targeting an annual production capacity of around 45,000 tonnes.
- CERISEA began construction of a new facility in Roussillon, France, set to produce up to 3,000 tonnes per year of 5-HMF for use in resins, coatings and plastics.
- AFTERBIOCHEM was successfully completed in April 2025, having advanced the production of bio-based chemicals from sugar beet industry side streams.
- SCALE opened the world’s first industrial microalgae biorefinery in Baillargues, Southern France, demonstrating microalgae as a feedstock for food, feed and cosmetic applications.
- Rural BioReFarmeries secured extra national funding in Ireland to launch a green biorefinery pilot plant, with a downstream unit planned for summer 2026.
Where the innovation is happening
Packaging remains the most active application area across the CBE JU portfolio, followed by cosmetics & home care and food & feed. On the feedstock side, waste and residues are the most widely used resource category, with 44 projects built around them, a trend that supports Europe’s push for greater resource autonomy.
Building knowledge and skills
The scientific output of the programme continues to grow, with 37 new peer reviewed publications reported in 2025. More than 1,600 researchers took part in training, mentoring and infrastructure access activities, with a near even gender split (51.1% women, 48.9% men). Looking back over the past decade, BBI JU projects registered 75 intellectual property rights between 2015 and 2025, reflecting a steady shift from research results toward market ready assets.
Strong engagement with applicants
The CBE JU 2025 Info Day drew over 1,400 potential applicants, 450 in person and 1,200 online, with 60% of attendees being newcomers and 14% coming from less represented countries. The event also generated close to 1,000 in person meetings and roughly twice as many online meetings compared to 2024.
To support this growth, CBE JU rolled out several new tools and strategies in 2025: an updated Widening Participation Action Plan for 2025 to 2027, a new Synergies Strategy to help projects combine EU, national and regional funding, a dedicated working group bringing together around 80 primary producer representatives, and a new interactive dashboard for exploring country and organisation level participation data across CBE JU projects.
Read more here.