Biotech is one of the biggest Employers in Europe

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As part of the European Biotech Week, EuropaBio shared yesterday a study revealing that Industrial Biotech has created 486,000 full-time jobs and contributes €31.6B to the EU. This new data emphasizes the huge role that Biotech plays on the continent’s economy.

The biotech industry was in the spotlight this week at the European Parliament, where the report was presented, and it received praise as one of the EU’s technological strengths. What’s more, the study predicts this industry will grow to well above 1 million jobs and almost €100Bn by 2030.

The analysis also reported that for every job created in industrial biotech, 4 more jobs are created elsewhere. The most benefited are resource providers, which includes manufacturing, business and finance, biomass supply, retail, transportation and storage, among others.

Figure 1. Employment created by the Biotech Industry.
Figure 1. Industrial Biotech employment numbers also include jobs created upstream (resource providers), downstream (users of the technology) and induced (enabled by the wealth that the industry creates).

EuropaBio emphasized that Biotechnology provides a circular economy model, in which raw material, by-products and waste are used more effectively. In particular, biorefinery plays a key role in using agricultural and forestal waste to produce necessity goods. Perfect examples are companies like Deinove and Arbiom, which use synthetic biology to process wood residues and produce cellulose derivatives. And the start-up Ynsect uses food leftovers to grow insects to feed piscifactories.

Biotech is attractive for investors because it adds value to European resources, creates jobs and benefits not only consumers, but also the environment and the climate. Its applications can help reduce the dependence on fossil carbon and transition towards a sustainable economy.

Bioplastics are, for example, a great alternative to petroleum-based materials because they provide solutions to environmental problems by using renewable resources and reducing waste with biodegradable products. Some companies explore the power of algae for the production of biofuel, infrastructure materials, nutrition and water treatment.

Figure 2. Distribution of jobs directly generated by Industrial Biotech.
Figure 2. Distribution of jobs directly generated by Industrial Biotech

Biotechnology has proven that it can deal with the many challenges of industry and it’s already changing the world we live in. This report quantifies the huge influence that industrial biotechnology has in Europe and predicts the field will keep growing and providing amazing solutions. And that’s without counting agricultural and medical biotech!


Featured image credit: Lisa Kolbasa/shutterstock.com
Figures 1 and 2 credit: europabio.org

 

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