The European Commission President yesterday [July 10, 2013] officially launched a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) as part of an Innovation and Investment Package. The PPP includes a €3.8 billion investment in the creation of new markets for bio-based products.

The PPP combines €1 billion of public support from the European Commission's Horizon 2020 programme with €2.8 billion of industry investment. The initiative will create new markets and value chains for bio-based products, bringing jobs and growth to Europe. Key objectives of the initiative include:

• Leverage Europe's bio-based research and technology
• Develop the under-utilized potential of agriculture and forestry residues
• Replace oil-based chemicals and materials with biodegradable and bio-based ones
• Generate new industries, revitalize others, and create thousands of jobs
• Diversify and grow farmers' incomes

CPI supports this initiative as 13 of the 48 member companies that have joined forces with the European Commission are pulp and paper producers within Europe. These are: BillerudKorsnäs, Borregaard, ENCE, Holmen, Metsä, Mondi, Norske Skog, SAPPI, SCA, Smurfit Kappa, Södra, Stora Enso and UPM. The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) is an associate member of the PPP.

Applauding the European Commission's initiative, CEPI Director General Teresa Presas said: "CEPI has worked hard to help make the PPP become reality. It is a great initiative. This support for innovation and demonstration is much needed. It keeps investments in Europe and helps realize our industry's future."

The PPP will capitalize on Europe's research leadership to bring solutions to commercial scale via pilot and demonstration projects. It brings different industry sectors together to optimize and create new value chains.

Bio-refineries are at the heart of this development. Unlike conventional fossil refineries that use finite fossil sources, bio-refineries use various sources of sustainable biomass and waste to produce everyday products. The bio-refinery concept is well placed in the Pulp and Paper Industry, which already constitutes a large part of the bio-economy in terms of volume and value.

Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) is the leading organization working on behalf of the UK's Paper-based Industries and represents 67 Member companies from an industry with an aggregate annual turnover of £5 billion, 25,000 direct and more than 100,000 indirect employees. It represents the supply chain for paper, comprising recovered paper merchants, paper and board manufacturers and converters, corrugated packaging producers and makers of soft tissue papers.