How forest products contribute to the bioeconomy

Reducing the material footprint and contributing to circularity and the sustainable use of natural resources

Forest products and bioeconomy

The bioeconomy is the production, utilization, conservation, and regeneration of biological resources, including related knowledge, science, technology, and innovation, to provide sustainable solutions (information, products, processes and services) within and across all economic sectors and enable a transformation to a sustainable economy. (Global Bioeconomy Summit Communiqué, 2020).

Among the biological resources contributing to the bioeconomy are forest-based resources, including ligneous resources, i.e. wood products and non-ligneous resources, also known as non-wood forest products (NWFP):

• The wood-based bioeconomy consists of a wide range of wood products contributing to the sustainable circular bioeconomy and the achievement of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The main wood products include industrial roundwood such as pulpwood, sawlogs and veneer logs, as well as wood fuel, including charcoal and pellets. Global industrial roundwood removals amounted to 2 028 million m³ in 2018, representing an increase of 5.2 percent compared to 2017 and 8.9 percent compared to the level in 2014. Global wood fuel removals reached 1 943 million m³ in 2018, an increase of 2 percent from 2014 (FAO, 2019).
  Most of the time, the wood initially comes from forests. But it can also come from non-forest trees and increasingly from wood products collected after use, whose material can be recycled many times in a variety of new products. Although the wood initially comes from the forest, the use and processing of co-products is essential to valorize the entire natural material. It is already possible for the industry to process by-products, for example by manufacturing chipboard or pulp and paper from sawmill residues.
• NWFP contribute to the bioeconomy by providing a wealth of plant and animal-based products such as wild edible plants and meat, raw material used for medicine and utensils, honey and beeswax exudates and ornamentals (FAO, 2020). NWFP generated approximately USD 88 billion in 2011 (FAO, 2014).