Bioeconomy as One of the Key Areas of Implementing a Circular Economy (CE) in Poland

Abstract

Transformation toward a circular economy (CE) model is one of the main priorities of the European Commission (EC). In the previous years, most of the European countries prepared national documents presenting their possibilities and plans for implementing CE in the country. In Poland, in 2019, the CE roadmap was approved by the government. Bioeconomy was indicated in this document as one of the key areas of CE implementation in Poland. This paper presents a detailed review of the actions needed for the transformation toward the CE model in Poland, and the units responsible for their implementation in the bioeconomy sector. The most important actions include creating conditions for the development of bioeconomy and building local value chains and a raw material base. Moreover, actions in the energy sector and transformation of industry is also indicated. Poland places great emphasis on strengthening cooperation between industry and the science sector, which should contribute to the implementation of innovative solutions in the whole economy, including bioeconomy. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate all activities taken by various stakeholders and the government at the central, regional and local level. A great opportunity to further development of bioeconomy in Poland is large resources of biomass in country. An increase in the biomass usage can positively accelerate the transformation process towards CE. Further efforts are required and planned in this area, based on the directions indicated in the Polish CE roadmap.