Welcome!

The scope of our work is on the bioeconomy—the economic sector that produces and supplies food, feed, and fiber and biomanufactures other products from agriculture, forestry, and aquaculture. 

The goal of the Circular Bioeconomy Systems Institute (CBSI) is to create a more sustainable, resilient, and environmentally friendly bioeconomy sector that not only produces and supplies food and other bioproducts but also regenerates natural resources, minimizes losses and wastes, and mitigates the environmental impacts of bioproduct supply chains. It represents a shift away from the linear "take-make-dispose" model to a more circular and restorative approach.

CBSI embraces collaboration and participation across expertise and disciplines. The Institute is open to ASABE members and non-members of other professional societies and stakeholders.

I invite you to join in our effort to develop innovative solutions that lead to a more circular bioeconomy. 

John F. Reid
CBSI Interim Chair


 

NIST to Host Workshop on Food Waste


Virtual Event
December 5–7, 2023

NIST Workshop on Food Waste NIST, the National Institute on Standards and Technology, is hosting a workshop to deterine how the agency can serve the food and organic waste community in their efforts to reduce and repurpose the waste.

NIST's Circular Economy Program is supporting the nation’s transition from a linear economic model to a cyclical one, where the materials we mine/farm/extract from the environment remain in the economy as long as feasibly possible and are not discarded after use.

Topics for the free workshop may include:

  • Current and Emerging Technology
  • Characterization & Contamination
  • Data, Measurement, and Modeling
  • Legal and Regulatory Barriers and Opportunities   

 


 

 

CBSI Leaders Present ASHS Webinar


CBSI CEA Webinar

Learn how circular bioeconomy systems principles apply to controlled environment agricultural in this webinar hosted by the American Society for Horticaltural Science.


 

ASABE Member Hour  CBS Series

Mark your calendar and register for our free, informative webinars that will enhance your understanding of circular bioeconomy systems and advance the transformation to sustainability.

ASABE Member Hour is open members and nonmembers, but registration is required. For your convenience, webinars are recorded and can be found on ASABE's YouTube channel.

 


April 27 • 1 pm eastern

Engaging Our Membership: Advancing Circular Bioeconomy Systems

Alicia Modenbach, University of Kentucky
Watch


May 4 • 1 pm eastern

Anaerobic Digesters

Terry Feldmann, PE, Maurer-Stutz, and Chris Schimp, Compressed Energy Systems LLC
Watch


May 18 • 1 pm eastern

Challenges of the 21st Century and Engineering Leadership

Mike McMeekin, Engineering Change Lab
Watch
 


June 1 • 1 pm eastern

EIT—Catalyst for the Transformation of Our Food 

Georg Schirrmacher, EIT Food
Watch


June 14 • 1 pm eastern

Methane Power as a Sustainable Circular Solution from Agricultural Biowaste

Rob Zemenchik, CNH Industrial
Watch


June 29 • 1 pm eastern

Nutrition for Brain, Body, and Planet Wellness

Charlie Messina, University of Florida
Watch

Join a CBS Working Group

How can you be a part of this important initiative? Stay up-to-date with news and conversation by joining the mailing list.

We also invite you to join one of the the three working groups. Review their charges, below, to find the group that best fits your interests, then contact the group lead for more information.

Task Force Leader: Jim Jones

Working Group 1
Contact: Joe Sagues
Create messaging materials and documents (including PowerPoint presentations) with succinct information to educate, engage, and recruit ASABE members, students, and leaders of public-private sectors who will contribute to the CBS initiative to build a more circular bioeconomy.

Working Group 2
Contact: Sue Nokes
Develop engaging activities and mechanisms within ASABE that advance CBS and for building circular bioeconomy systems

Working Group 3
Contact: Brahm Verma
Draft a plan, by considering inputs of a stakeholder engagement group, for connecting and bringing together professional societies into an alliance that includes collaborative mechanisms (activities, programs, projects and services) and features to develop convergent science and engineering knowledge to transform systems that underpin a new circular bioeconomy.

Introduction to Circular Bioeconomy Systems

Learn about the initiative, and about the principles behind circular bioeconomy systems.

Slide presentation: Download PDF or Request .ppt file
Webinar:

Stay Informed with Online Lecture Series

Presentations shown here were featured in the 2023 ASABE Member Hour webinar series. A new series focusing on circularity is planned for 2023.


The Circular Bioeconomy: 2022 Webinars

Thursday, September 16
James W. Jones, PhD, and Sue E. Nokes, PhD, PE
An Introduction to Circular Economies in Agriculture
Watch • Slide Deck • Backgroud Paper by Basso, et al.

Thursday, September 30
Ebenezer Miezah Kwofie, PhD
When Circularity Becomes Central to Our Global Food Security Agenda
Watch

Thursday, October 14
William (Joe) Sagues, PhD
Coupling Circularity with Carbon Negativity
Watch

Thursday, October 28
Stephanie Herbstritt, PhD Student
Waste to Worth: A Case Study of the Renewable Natural Gas Circular Economy in Pennsylvania
Watch

Tuesday, November 9
Keith Kline and Mike Levy, CLE
Circular Economy Standards Initiatives in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO TC323): Status, Issues, Opportunities
Watch


Thursday, December 2
Ernie Shea, Kellie Blair, and Bryan Sievers
Farm Scale Circular Systems
Watch

Thursday, December 9, 2 pm
Allison Thomson
Circularity Ag Value Chain and the Environment
Learn more

NAE Focus on Complex Unifiable Systems

NAE Logo

ASABE Fellows James Jones, R. Paul Singh, Sue Nokes, and Brahm Verma, as well as ASABE member Bruno Basso, are among the presenters and moderators for the Virtual Forum on Complex Food and Agricultural Systems: Engineering for Sustainability and Resilience, hosted by the National Academy of Engineering.

The forum will review characteristics and challenges of existing systems and the need for various engineering disciplines to converge to lead the transformation of current mostly linear food and agriculture into circular and resilient systems. The forum will also explore needed progress and investment in education, R&D, modeling and analytics, public-private collaboration, and other dimensions.

The forum will take place September 9, from 11 am to 4 pm (eastern time). Registration is free.

ASABE is proud to be a major sponsor for this event.

Register

#ASABE21 Mini-Symposium on Circular Economies

Keynote Presentations


Panel Presentation: Building a Coalition


Panel Presentation: Current Activities for Transforming to Circular Systems