The regional nature of circular bioeconomy: comparing the availability of residual biomass at national, regional and city level

Guldemund, A.; Schungel, J.; Schebek, L.; Schaldach, R.; Zeller, V. 2025. The regional nature of circular bioeconomy: comparing the availability of residual biomass at national, regional and city level. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 215:108125. [doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2025.108125]

Circular bioeconomies aim to use biogenic resources efficiently, e.g. by utilizing residual biomass. The availability of residual biomass varies regionally and its utilization is regionally restricted. Accordingly, regions must handle different feedstock. Thus, knowledge on the availability of residual biomass is essential in regional bioeconomy planning. In this paper we present a new approach to quantify residual biomass. It is comprehensive regarding source sectors and residue categories, applicable at the regional level and based on openly available statistical data. We apply this approach to study the specific characteristics of urban regions, by presenting a German case study of a city, a metropolitan region and the national level. We calculate mass-based potentials, spatial densities and the temporal development. Exemplarily, our results show that metropolitan regions resemble the national average as residual biomass supplier while cities have significantly different characteristics. In cities, industry & trade was found to be the dominating source sector with extremely high spatial density of non-vegetation-related residues.