Member spotlight: meet the Bio-Based and Biodegradable Industries Association

The Bio-Based and Biodegradable Industries Association (BBIA) and the BioIndustry Association (BIA) enter a mutual membership agreement to strengthen collaboration and support each other's work and member communities. In this blog, Jen Vanderhoven, BBIA's COO highlights the work of the organisation, its priorities for next year and the aspirations for the partnership.

Q: Tell us about BBIA's mission and priorities.

The health of the planet we all call home is under threat, with Earth’s natural systems and boundaries being increasingly breached daily. Human health and well-being are intricately linked to the health of the planet, which is currently suffering from reduced air and water quality, climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution from plastics and toxic substances. At our present consumption rate, by 2030 we will need two planets to meet both our resource needs and absorb society's waste.

The BBIA exists to champion the industrial bioeconomy, to accelerate the development and adoption of bio-based and biodegradable materials and products, through advocacy, collaboration, and education. We do this to reduce the impact of human consumption on the planet. Our vision is for a more sustainable future, where the UK is a global leader in developing, manufacturing, using and exporting bio-based and biodegradable solutions.

We unite those working in the bio-based and biodegradable industries, through advocacy, collaboration, and education, to put the industrial bioeconomy at the centre of sustainability and economic growth in the UK.

Areas we see of key importance for the BBIA in 2024 are:

• Enabling a truly circular economy, and in doing so reducing plastic pollution, through the promotion of compostable and biodegradable materials in areas such as food waste collection, agriculture, forestry and marine environments
• Supporting the defossilisation of hard-to-decarbonise sectors, for example, the chemicals and plastic industry, through the use of biomass as a feedstock 
• Developing the sustainable bio-based and biodegradable materials of the future, by driving innovation in novel materials 

What is your motivation behind joining BIA and what are you looking to achieve?

The industrial bioeconomy, and bio-based and bio-degradable materials, offer a realistic opportunity to significantly reduce our reliance on fossil resources, and in doing so reduce the impact of humans on the planet. There are synergies between the BBIA and BIA missions to develop the UK as a leader in BioRevolution, and we look forward to collaborating with the BIA on topics of joint mutual interest.

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