Publication date:
CBE JU has published its 2025 Annual Activity Report, presenting a year of strong demand, broader participation and tangible progress in supporting Europe’s circular bio-based sector. From record interest in the call for proposals, strong SME and newcomer participation to industrial deployment milestones, progress towards KPIs and wider engagement of new organisations and underrepresented countries, the latest results underline CBE JU’s contribution to the EU’s strategic goals.
As Europe seeks to strengthen its competitiveness, resilience and strategic autonomy, CBE JU is supporting bio-based innovation where it matters most – industrial scale-up, market uptake and wider participation across circular bio-based value chains.
The latest annual results are not just about project numbers. They show that Europe’s bio-based ecosystem is becoming more mature, more connected and better positioned to deliver at scale. CBE JU’s added value lies in bringing together the actors, evidence and investment confidence needed for bio-based industries to grow in Europe.
Nicoló Giacomuzzi-Moore, CBE JU’s Executive Director
By the end of 2025, CBE JU had supported 220 projects, including 88 ongoing, 30 newly launched and 132 completed projects. These projects brought together 1,700 beneficiaries from 45 countries, reflecting the growing reach of the CBE JU programme across regions and sectors.
The year also saw record interest in CBE JU funding, with 240 eligible proposals submitted under the 2025 call for proposals and more than EUR 1.4 billion requested in total funding.
Small and medium-sized enterprises, which represent the backbone of the EU economy, remained strongly represented in the programme, accounting for 38% of project participants and receiving around €508 million in CBE JU funding, representing 35% of the programme’s total budget. Newcomers represented 45% of applicants in the 2025 call, confirming that the programme remains open beyond its established community.
CBE JU continued to make progress towards its programme-specific key performance indicators, with positive developments across value chain and widening participation and project outputs. By the end of 2025, waste manager participation had reached the programme target, brand owners involvement was close to completion and participation from underrepresented countries and regions continued to grow. Projects also reported strong progress in innovative bio-based outputs and circular products.
Several CBE JU-funded projects reached important industrial deployment milestones in 2025.
- In Latvia, VIOBOND completed the foundations for Europe’s first commercially viable bio-based resin plant with an expected annual production capacity of around 45,000 tonnes.
- In France, CERISEA broke ground on a new bio-based molecule facility in Roussillon, designed to produce up to 3,000 tonnes of 5-HMF per year for applications including resins, coatings and bio-based plastics.
The programme’s growing maturity is also reflected in its capacity to mobilise investment. Nearing programme completion, projects funded by CBE JU’s predecessor, BBI JU, had attracted EUR 3.62 of private investment for every EUR 1 of EU funding, exceeding the EUR 2.85 target. This reflects strong industry confidence in the circular bio-based economy and shows how public funding can help mobilise additional investment for further industrial development in Europe.
The programme strengthened the conditions for broader participation and better alignment between innovation, funding and circular bio-based value chains. In 2025, CBE JU adopted a new country-focused Widening Participation Action Plan for 2025-2027, launched its Synergies Strategy and a three-year working group on primary producers. These actions support wider engagement across Europe and help ensure that farmers, foresters, fishers and aquaculture producers can play a stronger role in the development of bio-based industries.
Taken together, these results confirm CBE JU's growing role in supporting Europe's industrial transition and competitiveness, while strengthening the bio-based economy through innovation, investment and inclusive participation.
Explore the 2025 key highlights in our digital summary or dive into the full 2025 Annual Activity Report for a detailed overview of CBE JU’s progress in research and innovation, project implementation, performance indicators, partnerships, communications, operations and more.