Co-regulation framework for the use of sustainability certification schemes for bio-based products
Urgency for the attention to sustainability of bio-based materials and bio-based products is growing. Sustainability certification schemes and standards can help companies to ensure their products meet certain sustainability requirements. Co-regulation is an alternative solution or a complement to conventional regulation in this regard. The European Union (EU) has developed valuable experience in adopting co-regulation under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED and REDII) and the EU Timber Regulation. However, research by the STAR-ProBio project shows that currently no coherent and comprehensive regulatory framework exists for other sectors of the bioeconomy.
This report elaborated within our project STAR-ProBio puts forward a proposal for a co-regulation framework to introduce the use of sustainability assessment tools (and in particular, certification schemes) in a co-regulative framework for the market uptake of the broader bio-based materials and products. It is identified that establishing such co-regulation framework requires more coherence between different EU policy mechanisms and between legislation and private mechanisms such as certification schemes and standards.
