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The European Commission has facilitated the establishment of a number of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to accelerate research and innovation in key industrial sectors.

The PPPs have been established to:
  • Provide a legal structure to pool resources and to gather critical mass in the chosen sectors
  • Enable the scale of research and innovation effort needed to address critical societal challenges and major EU policy objectives
  • Enable innovative technologies to get to market faster
  • Improve the efficiency of research and innovation funding across the EU by sharing financial, human and infrastructure resources
  • Facilitate the creation of an internal market for innovative products and services
  • Provide an appropriate framework for international companies to anchor their research and innovation investments in Europe

SusChem and the PPPs

As an industry-led stakeholder organisation, SusChem supported the establishment and implementation of the PPPs. The platform works extensively with various PPPs, giving inputs to help shape their work programmes and their discussions with the European Commission.

We look for synergies with and between PPPs to develop a more coherent Horizon 2020 programme. We defend the needs of PPPs and chemical sector bodies represented in them in discussions with the European Commission.

SusChem has particularly close ties with two PPPs: the ‘Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency’ (SPIRE) PPP and the Biobased Industries Joint Initiative (BBI JU) .

When they were established in 2012 a joint narrative was developed to ensure that their respective activities were linked and harmonised in a coordinated manner whenever technically and economically reasonable.

Both PPPs are striving to improve the sustainability of the European manufacturing industry in terms of global competitiveness, ecology, jobs and growth. SusChem coordinates certain aspects of their work programmes and adds value to European research and innovation outcomes in areas of common interest.

SPIRE PPP

SPIRE is a contractual Public-Private Partnership dedicated to innovation in resource and energy efficiency and enabled by the process industries, including the chemical sector. SPIRE addresses three fundamental European challenges: the urgency to create growth and increase the competitiveness of Europe in a global market; the need to rejuvenate the European process industry as the basis of the European economy; and the imperative to reduce resource and energy inefficiency and the environmental impact of industrial activities.

SPIRE aims to integrate, demonstrate and validate systems and technologies capable of achieving two key resource and energy efficiency targets across all SPIRE sectors: a reduction in fossil energy intensity of up to 30% from current levels, and a reduction of up to 20% in non-renewable, primary raw material intensity compared to current levels, which will in turn lead to a significant efficiency improvement in CO2-equivalent of up to 40%.

BBI JU

The BioBased Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) is a public-private partnership aiming to increase investment in the development of a sustainable biobased industry sector in Europe. Its goal is to provide environmental and socio-economic benefits for European citizens by increasing the competitiveness of Europe and establishing Europe as a key player in research, demonstration and deployment of advanced biobased products and biofuels. It will also play an important role in achieving a bioeconomy in Europe.

Operating under Horizon 2020, it is driven by the Vision and Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) developed by the industry and is a major public and private effort representing a combined €3.7 billion investment in biobased innovation from 2014-2020.

Related Societal Challenges

Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

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Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy

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Smart, Green and integrated Transport

Smart, Green and integrated Transport

Related UN Sustainability Goals

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Responsible Consumption and Production

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Climate Action

Climate Action