Innovazioni di prodotto per la valorizzazione dei residui legnosi della filiera foresta-legno

The forest-wood sector plays a fundamental role in the Alpine Region providing an important contribution to the development of local economy and the creation of new job opportunities. The CirculAlps project – carried out in the period 2018-2019 in the context of the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP) – has provided an important contribution to the promotion of the circular economy in the Alpine forest-wood sector through mapping the innovative process related to the valorisation of wood residues. This paper show one of the most important results of the CirculAlps project about mapping of wood residues throughout the supply chain and potential uses of them for the production of innovative bio-based products such as for example: panels used in green building from wood fibers; essential oils using needles and twigs of conifers; biofoams using tannin extract from bark. All these innovations of product are interesting examples of valorization of waste from production processes in a circular bioeconomy perspective as required by the new EU Circular Economy Action Plan (2020).