Bio4HUMAN
The project Bio4HUMAN aims to contribute to the identification of bio-based solutions for solid waste management that have the potential to be applicable in various humanitarian contexts.
Humanitarian interventions focus on people and their well-being, often overlooking the environmental impact they cause. Indeed, solid waste, generated by both humanitarian actors and beneficiaries, quickly accumulates, and its management rapidly becomes challenging.
The Bio4HUMAN project aims to enhance the means of addressing the challenges of waste management in humanitarian contexts and to reduce the waste littering the environment. To achieve this, a pathway of cooperation between humanitarian aid organisations and the bio-based sector is being established to identify bio-based solutions for solid waste management applicable in various humanitarian contexts.
The applicability of the proposed solutions will be studied at two African sites affected by war and/or by climatic and economic instabilities. Simultaneously, the project will develop a replication roadmap that will contribute to the future replicability of the identified solutions. In the long term, Bio4HUMAN is expected to contribute to the development of innovative and sustainable value chains that will benefit consumers and citizens in Europe and beyond.
Duration: 01/01/2024 – 30/06/2026
Total budget: 1 509 809.06€
BIO4HUMAN
Project partners
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Our contribution
The 10 companies of the Bio4HUMAN project consortium intervene at different stages of the project, according to their expertise (packaging, agricultural and hygienic plastic products, etc.). The project begins with a scoping exercise to create a list of solutions and identify gaps in the supply chain for solid waste management. Next, life cycle assessments of the proposed solutions will be conducted, evaluating their applicability from socio-economic and governance perspectives. The study will also explore whether these solutions align with the objectives of key stakeholders in solid waste management and whether they can be accepted by the community, local businesses, and local authorities. Subsequently, a set of replication tools will be developed and disseminated to humanitarian actors to help them explore and implement innovative bio-based solutions, ensuring sustainable performance and circularity in humanitarian aid. A feasibility study will be carried out in two African sites: the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
The main objective of our Work Package (WP5) is to conduct the environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of the innovative bio-based solutions for solid waste management (SWM) identified in WP4. The LCA will quantify the environmental impacts of implementing bio-based products in humanitarian aid contexts. This analysis will help identify environmental hotspots and methodological or data gaps related to these bio-based solutions. By combining the LCA results with the social, economic, and governance assessments developed in WP6, we will be able to identify and promote the most effective innovative solutions to reduce environmental impacts in humanitarian operations and foster the bioeconomy.