V-FOREST

Europe produces vast amounts of underutilised or damaged wood biomass from pests, storms, floods, and wildfires. This resource is often wasted or incinerated, leading to unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions and risks to biodiversity. At the same time, the cosmetic industry continues to rely on fossil-derived and sometimes hazardous ingredients, limiting both sustainability and product safety. V-Forest addresses these challenges by developing decentralised, containerised valorisation strategies to transform underutilised wood biomass into high-value, bio-based cosmetic ingredients, while ensuring potential transferability to other bio-based sectors such as food and feed. The project combines advanced pretreatment and fractionation techniques, including supercritical CO2, deep eutectic solvents (DES), and mild solvolysis, with complementary chemical and biotechnological valorisation routes. These processes enable the recovery of diverse fractions, such as apolar extracts, lignin oligomers, cellulose-derived sugars, probiotics, and bacteriocins, that can be integrated into safe, functional, and sustainable cosmetic formulations. The concept will be demonstrated up to TRL5, with initial biomass pretreatment steps located near feedstock sources to reduce transport costs, generate new income opportunities for forest owners, and stimulate rural development. Biodiversity and soil safeguards will be ensured through selective harvesting, regeneration measures, and advanced monitoring, aligning with EU strategies on carbon removal, biodiversity protection, and the circular bioeconomy. The consortium includes one forest manager, four SMEs, and two academic partners, covering the entire value chain from feedstock supply and processing to cosmetic formulation and market analysis. Using LCA, TEA, and multi-stakeholder engagement, V-Forest will provide evidence-based policy recommendations and a roadmap for future scale-up.