As the European Commission launches its updated EU Bioeconomy Strategy, all eyes are again on innovation, competitiveness and sustainability as the driving forces behind Europe’s green transition.  

The new Bioeconomy Strategy aims to help European businesses utilise renewable biological resources, ensuring that economic growth aligns with environmental protection.

In fact, a bio-based economy relies on renewable inputs and circular processes to reduce dependency on fossil resources. By promoting biomass, including agricultural and forestry residues, Europe can replace conventional petrochemical inputs with innovative, low-carbon alternatives.

This approach significantly contributes to the EU’s climate and environmental goals, while also creating high-quality green jobs and strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy.

Front-runner solutions 

One company actively applying this ethos is Diversey, a Solenis company headquartered in the Netherlands, providing cleaning and hygiene solutions. For more than a century, it has built a reputation around sustainable innovation.

Today, with over 250 EU Ecolabel-certified products, Diversey shows how industry efforts can effectively support EU sustainability objectives. In addition, the company is innovating with bio-based ingredients for its products. 

“Sustainability has always been at the heart of everything we do.” 

Park Bao, Senior Regulatory Specialist at Diversey

A milestone in the company’s sustainability journey is the SURE products range, a complete bio-based line of 150 professional products covering surface cleaners, personal care, disinfectants and machine ware wash. Of these, 60 are EU Ecolabel certified.

Diversey emphasises that the SURE product line uses plant-based, readily biodegradable ingredients derived from by-products of the agro-food industry, originating from sugar beet, maize, wheat and straw bran, and coconut.

This way, the business works closely with suppliers to source materials that would otherwise be discarded, thus reducing dependency on virgin feedstocks and avoiding land-use competition with food crops.

With this alternative approach, “the goal of the SURE range is to deliver the same cleaning performance as conventional products,” Park Bao said. 

In line with EU Ecolabel requirements, SURE products are free from fragrances or dyes, and are equipped with recyclable packaging and precise dosing systems that optimise product use.  

Market success through certification 

Investment in high-performing, bio-based products is paying off, as demand for such solutions continues to rise. Diversey is seeing this trend largely in Western Europe.

“Top countries, in terms of the adoption of plant-based cleaning products, are the Netherlands, France, Germany, and the UK.”

Lynne Snoding, Regional Portfolio Manager at Diversey

In recent years, the company’s EU Ecolabel-certified products portfolio has recorded approximately 10% annual growth, while the SURE range alone surged by 36% last year, making it Diversey’s fastest-growing brand. The main challenge lies in the longer certification process.

According to Lynne, “while standard products can earn the EU-Ecolabel in about six months, bio-based ones may take a year or more”.

Still, the additional time is worth it. 

Not only does Diversey follow EU Ecolabel principles, but its experience proves the EU’s bioeconomy vision can deliver real-world business success.

By investing in bio-based innovation and circular supply chains, the company has turned green credentials into a winning card. It is a concrete example of how policy ambition and industrial innovation come together to pave the way for a sustainable European economy. 

Find all Diversey products under the EU Ecolabel Product Catalogue (ECAT).