Senai and Suzano will invest R$16 million in bioeconomy projects

Among the selected projects, seven will partner with startups, three with universities and five with Senai Innovation Institutes. The term for carrying out the portfolio is 24 months. The partnership aims to strengthen a sector in which Brazil has the potential to be a world leader, since 20% of the planet’s biodiversity is here.

Data from the Brazilian Association of Bioinnovation (ABBI), the industrial biotechnology sector – one of the segments of the bioeconomy – can add, over the next 20 years, approximately US$ 53 billion per year to the Brazilian economy and generate about 217 thousand new qualified jobs . For this, companies in the sector would need to invest US$ 132 billion over two decades.

For professor and specialist in Industrial Ecology, Armando Caldeira, bioeconomy is one of the pillars of the so-called circular economy, a concept that seeks to better use biological products and avoid waste in the production chain.

“The bioeconomy is increasingly being inserted into a dynamic circular economy process. And the circular economy manages to transform materials and equipment that are in their end-of-life process. It is looking at these materials as a source of raw material for other sectors of the economy or for the same (sector). You manage to characterize a series of economic, social and environmental advantages when you circularize the economy”, he explains.

Caldeira points out that all sectors that use carbon as a subsidy can make production less polluting.

“When you think of bioeconomy with the use of green carbon, a carbon that came from the air and was incorporated by the plant, there are a number of economic sectors (that can benefit), including food, dyes – which belong to polymers –, energy , pharmaceuticals too”, he lists.

Legislation is still an obstacle

In the opinion of the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), one of the priorities for the bioeconomy to advance in Brazil is the improvement of legislation, both for norms related to the use of biodiversity and for innovation and intellectual property.

In the Chamber of Deputies, a project is being processed (PLP 150/22) that creates a national policy to develop the bioeconomy in Brazil, with principles, guidelines and instruments of the sector.

Among the authors are deputies Da Vitória (PP-ES), Francisco Jr. (PSD/GO), Zé Vitor (PL/MG) and Dr. Luiz Ovando (PP/MS), who are part of the Center for Strategic Studies and Debates. Cedes is a technical advisory body of the Chamber dedicated to the analysis and discussion of national strategic issues.

According to Deputy Da Vitória, approval of the matter is necessary to ensure economic recovery and job creation, especially in the post-pandemic scenario. “We carried out extensive research on various productive development stimuli, which are central elements for the post-pandemic economic recovery. And we analyzed a way in which we could resume the development of the country in a sustainable way. We had the idea of ​​creating this economic recovery, with a stimulus in a national bioeconomy policy”, he argues.

The parliamentarian details that the legislation works as a guide for companies to plan actions aimed at the bioeconomy. “There is a broad line of regulation linking all the necessary bodies, changing the rules that already exist and bringing a specific plan. We put all the legislation together, made changes and suggested a standardization of behavior so that companies, entrepreneurs, can develop in a sustainable way and linked to a bioeconomy policy ”, he adds.

PLP 150/22 provides that the governance of the National Bioeconomy Policy will be the responsibility of the Bioeconomy Sectorial Council (CNBio). Another body, called the National Bioeconomy Strategy (Enbio) would be responsible for indicating proposed objectives, actions, efficiency and effectiveness indicators. The National Bioeconomy Information System (Sinbio) would have the function of integrating economic information, such as market opportunities and new technologies.

Today, the agenda awaits the opinion of the rapporteur in the National Integration and Regional Development Commission of the Chamber of Deputies.

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