Bio-based products are wholly or partly produced from biomass.

They include:

• products traditionally made from biomass, e.g. paper and textile; and
• products traditionally produced from fossil oil, but increasingly from biomass through novel value chains such as fermentation and biocatalysis, e.g. detergents, chemical building blocks and polymers.

No specific EU policies and legislation exist in sectors which traditionally use biomass, such as the textile, wood and wooden furniture and pulp and paper sectors. However, they are covered by cross-cutting initiatives and policies such as the raw material initiative. They are also subject to the more generally applicable product safety standards and internal market legislation.

There also is no policy strategy or legislation specifically dedicated to the bio-based chemicals and materials sectors. However, bio-based products have been identified as selected market under the following initiatives:

• the communication ‘A stronger European industry for growth and economic recovery’ and
• the communication ‘For a European industrial renaissance’.

More recent relevant documents are:

• the communication 'Investing in a smart, innovative and sustainable industry - A renewed EU Industrial Policy Strategy',
• the communication 'A new industrial strategy for Europe' and
• the Circular Economy Action Plan.

Bio-based chemicals and materials have to comply with requirements for chemicals and materials in general (REACH).