Carbon is part of almost every value chain, yet most of the carbon used in the economy still comes from fossil sources, driving climate change and creating strong import dependencies. ReTraCC is an Austrian flagship project that supports the shift from a linear, fossil-based economy towards a circular carbon economy. It focuses on the material (non-energy) use of carbon and on keeping carbon in circulation for longer, by replacing fossil feedstocks with biogenic and secondary carbon from domestic sources. Austria's industrial point sources emit around 10 million tonnes of biogenic CO2 per year, and more than 700,000 tonnes of plastic waste are currently incinerated annually, which illustrates the scale of the untapped potential.

ReTraCC follows a three-level transformation plan that links system analysis, industrial pilots and national upscaling:

  • SYSTEM: a systemic analysis of Austria's carbon value network, based on a new hybrid multi-regional input-output database that maps monetary and physical carbon flows at high spatial (NUTS3) and sectoral (150 to 300 product groups) resolution, including Austria's global supply chains;
  • PILOTS: development and real-world piloting of use cases with industry partners in four focus areas: biogenic CO2 from point sources (for example in greenhouses and for chemical feedstocks), innovative recycling of carbon-containing wastes and residues (hard-to-recycle plastics and biomass fractions), circular business models such as reuse and “product as a service” systems, and digital tools for spatial network planning, AI-based decision support for thermochemical recycling, and circular procurement;
  • SCALING: upscaling of successful use cases to national scenarios using a dynamic multisectoral computable general equilibrium model and screening life cycle assessment, capturing environmental, economic and social impacts as well as trade-offs and rebound effects;
  • GUIDANCE: a structured, participatory stakeholder process across all use cases, leading to recommendations on regulatory barriers, fiscal and financial incentives, and the social and cultural factors that enable or hinder a circular carbon economy.

In this way, ReTraCC ensures that circular carbon innovations do not remain isolated niche solutions, but are tested under real conditions and evaluated for their contribution to a climate-neutral, resilient and competitive Austrian economy.

IIASA's ROLE

IIASA contributes to the systemic analysis of the circular carbon economy (Work Package 2) together with BOKU University and leads the development of the GIS-based network planning tool (Task 6.3). For this purpose, IIASA extends its spatially explicit supply chain optimization model BeWhere, which has so far been applied mainly to linear bioenergy supply chains, to flexible circular carbon networks for the first time. The modeling addresses three aspects:

  • the expansion of Austria's biogenic CO2 network, building on the CO2 use cases and the energy market modeling in the project;
  • the integration of residue streams for innovative recycling processes, including thermochemical treatment pathways;
  • the link to macroeconomic sectors through the hybrid input-output model, to capture systemic interactions.

A central concept is “sustainability security”: the ability of interconnected carbon value chains to compensate shortages in one chain with surpluses in another. Following the principle of diversify, integrate and operate flexibly, IIASA develops new integration parameters that quantify the risks and opportunities of interlinking value networks. The result is a set of network expansion plans showing which technologies and infrastructures should be built where, when and at what scale to enable a risk-aware transformation. These plans provide a decision basis for industry and policy and feed into the national upscaling scenarios and sustainability assessment of the project.

PARTNERS

The ReTraCC consortium covers the full carbon value chain, from technology development (CO2 capture, CO2 electrolysis, thermochemical recycling, process simulation) to system and energy modeling, sustainability and socioeconomic assessment, regulation, stakeholder engagement and market introduction. It is coordinated by BioBASE GmbH and comprises 33 partners: 8 research organizations, 24 companies and one further institution, with the nova-Institut from Germany as the only international partner.

  • BioBASE GmbH (coordinator)
  • AIT Austrian Institute of Technology
  • Altstoff Recycling Austria AG (ARA)
  • Andritz AG
  • BEST Bioenergy and Sustainable Technology GmbH
  • Billa AG
  • Biogas Bruck/Leitha GmbH
  • BOKU University, Institute of Social Ecology
  • Borealis GmbH
  • Botres Global GmbH
  • Circular Economy Forum Austria (CEFA)
  • Ernst & Young denkstatt GmbH
  • Frutura Obst & Gemüse Kompetenzzentrum GmbH
  • GIG Karasek GmbH
  • Green Tech Valley Cluster GmbH
  • Greenhouse Power GmbH
  • Herret Gemüseproduktions GmbH
  • International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
  • Institute of Industrial Ecology (IIÖ)
  • MKW Kunststofftechnik GmbH
  • Montanuniversität Leoben, Chair of Process Technology and Industrial Environmental Protection
  • Nachgedacht e.U.
  • Next Generation Elements GmbH
  • nova-Institut für politische und ökologische Innovation GmbH (Germany)
  • ÖBB Holding AG
  • PreZero Polymers Austria GmbH
  • Puhm Green GmbH
  • SUNPOR Kunststoff GmbH
  • Thinkubator Sustainable Solutions OG
  • Transfercenter für Kunststofftechnik GmbH (TCKT)
  • Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change, University of Graz
  • wpa Beratende Ingenieure GmbH
  • Zeiler Greenhouse GmbH