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CBE JU representatives were in Hervás, Spain, yesterday, to celebrate the launch of the SUSTAINEXT biorefinery’s construction. When completed, the plant will process 20 000 tonnes of agricultural sidestreams a year to produce healthy ingredients for various sectors ranging from food to cosmetics, to chemicals.
CBE JU representatives attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the future SUSTAINEXT project’s biorefinery in Hervás, Spain, yesterday. The project is turning an existing production plant into a digitalised circular biorefinery to produce healthy ingredients from local medicinal and aromatic plants, and agricultural sidestreams. The biorefinery will supply a wide range of sectors: food and feed, cosmetics, chemicals, and bio-based fertilisers, to name just a few. The project will create new business opportunities, highly skilled jobs and value for the region, pioneering sustainable growth and competitiveness solutions across the European rural areas
Harnessing the power of collaboration in circular bioeconomy
The CBE JU-funded flagship project brings together a 20-members strong team to deliver on its innovative promise. Under the leadership of a small Spanish business, the involvement of all actors along the value chain – farmers, researchers, end-users – is key to reach the project’s competitiveness and sustainability goals.
SUSTAINEXT shows the power of collaboration in the circular bioeconomy, transforming a visionary idea into a future groundbreaking biorefinery that will drive sustainability, innovation, and economic growth in the Extremadura region.
CBE JU Executive Director Nicoló Giacomuzzi-Moore
Projects such as Sustainext show how the ecological transition, through decarbonization, circularity or the conservation and restoration of ecosystems, is an agenda of opportunity.
Alejandro Dorado, Commissioner for the Circular Economy of the Ministry for Ecological Transition, and the Demographic Challenge
Confirming the potential of small European businesses
NATAC, the project’s coordinator, belongs to the category of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). 35% of CBE JU’s beneficiaries are such SMEs, and together they receive 32% of the partnership’s funding. They also coordinate 15% of all 190+ CBE JU-funded projects, which confirms the importance of small companies in scaling up Europe’s bio-based sector.
For a municipality like Hervás it is very important to have a company of the stature of NATAC. Our firm intention has been, and will continue to be, to help in everything in our power so that it continues to grow, as this will benefit Hervás and the whole Ambroz Valley.
Gloria de los Santos, Mayoress of Hervás
The SUSTAINEXT project consolidates our strategy of embracing the circular bioeconomy as a sustainable business model. At NATAC we firmly believe that it is possible to generate wealth and growth without renouncing sustainability, respecting the environment, and benefiting local communities.
Antonio Delgado, CEO of NATAC
Bringing value to the region
The example of SUSTAINEXT shows the tremendous value that such projects can bring to rural areas like Extremadura. The project’s disruptive circular model has zero-waste and zero-emissions ambition. By creating new business opportunities and new highly skilled jobs, it has the potential of boosting the local economy and later exporting this model to other regions.
This is a pioneering project; we have a biorefinery that is transforming agricultural waste into high value-added compounds. It is an example of this new economic model in our region. Where before we only saw a raw material with practically no use, today we see innovation, we see science and we see qualified employment.
María Guardiola, President of the Regional Government of Extremadura
