Classification of industrial biobased systems in the EU as basis for sustainability and circularity assessment - Status quo and suggestions for a systematic approach

Within the biobased economy, numerous biobased products (BBPs), processes, feedstocks, and waste streams are involved. Thus, numerous industrial biobased systems (IBBSs) with diverse value chains and interconnected biobased flows exist or are in development, which have been classified using different criteria and systems to date. To support comparable assessments and identify the most sustainable and circular systems, a unified classification of IBBSs is needed. Therefore, this study aims to develop a unified systematization of IBBS classification within the scope of sustainability and circularity assessment for the whole range of BBPs. Systematization of the IBBS classification is achieved based on five key features: BBPs, biobased industries, biomass feedstocks, life cycle assessment (LCA) system boundary, and end-of-life (EoL) management. To integrate the key features into a unified framework, a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach is employed. The proposed harmonized classification encompasses a statistical classification of economic activities (NACE) related to BBPs, a platform-based classification for biobased industries, and an origin-based classification for biomass feedstocks. Keeping sustainability assessment in view, three distinct LCA aspects with system boundary modelling approach, data types, and supply chain are integrated. A structured EoL classification categorizes the EoL stages into circulatable life phases and final disposal phases, facilitating circularity assessment. Overall, the proposed harmonized classification framework enables consistent and comparable evaluations of environmental sustainability and circularity across IBBSs, thereby supporting the advancement of a sustainable and circular BBPs bioeconomy in the EU. • Industrial biobased systems should be systemized by life cycle elements. • The systemization of biobased industries should include processes with component separation as well as without component separation. • Multicriteria decision analysis provides a systematic way towards harmonization of classification. • The suggested harmonized classification framework supports systematic, comparable sustainability and circularity assessment.