The ROOTS Position Paper focuses on biowaste valorisation in the circular bioeconomy, targeting urban biowaste sectors, while addressing stakeholders such as municipalities, waste management companies, policymakers, and bioeconomy businesses. It provides practical value for cities and regions by identifying regulatory bottlenecks, recommending policy changes, and showcasing best practices to enhance waste collection, recycling, and investment in bioproducts.

Among the challenges highlighted are the lack of standardized End-of-Waste criteria for urban biowaste, which delays circular business development, and restrictions on the use of household-derived feedstocks, such as used cooking oils, despite their potential for high-quality bioproducts. To address this, the paper recommends establishing EU-wide criteria for End-of-Waste status for various types of urban biowaste, such as food waste, green waste, and used cooking oils, through implementing acts under Directive 2018/851, mirroring existing EU regulations for metals and glass.

These steps would promote harmonization and simplify licensing processes across Member States. The findings support the development of Circular Systemic Solutions by fostering policy alignment to overcome such barriers in biowaste valorisation. This is most helpful in the Map phase of Circular Systemic Solutions deployment.