Circular Health

Fraunhofer IGB is a founding member of the Fraunhofer Group for Resource Technologies and Bioeconomy VRB, which published a position paper on the concept of “Circular Health” in December 2023. The aim of the concept is to sustainably ensure the health of humans, animals and the environment through circular approaches in medicine, agriculture, nutrition and environmental sciences. We will briefly present the key messages of the circular health concept and demonstrate how the IGB contributes to it.

Our ecosystems are characterized by closely interlinked biogeochemical cycles, which also have a significant impact on human health. If they are disturbed, the effects are often difficult to calculate. A key objective of “Circular Health” is to identify and control factors that disrupt the balance of these cycles in order to contribute to preventive health care and meet sustainability goals at the same time.

Circular Health is a cross-sectoral and transdisciplinary approach with the aim of balancing human and animal health with the environment and the economy. This is to be achieved through circular-based approaches in medicine, agriculture, nutrition, and environmental sciences. In doing so, essential contents from two concepts, the One Health concept and the concept of a circular economy, will be taken up and brought together.

One Health: a healthy environment for a healthy person

The term One Health was first used in 2003–2004, with the emergence of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and the worldwide spread of avian influenza H5N1, to describe how human health is inextricably linked to animal and environmental health.

One Health taken to the next level: circular instead of linear economy

The global (geo)ecological challenges, which culminate in climate change and the loss of biodiversity and contribute to the destabilization of entire ecosystems with a massive burden on human health, can essentially be traced back to the linear and predominantly fossil-based economy. In order to ensure people's health, it is therefore imperative to observe circular principles and ecological cycles.

Future agricultural systems must be able to feed up to ten billion people and reliably supply them with biogenic raw materials. At the same time, it is likely that less and less arable land will be available. In order to preserve natural resources such as fertile soils, clean water and air, stop the decline in biodiversity and counteract climate change, agricultural production must be made more sustainable.

Sustainable plant cultivation and animal husbandry without antibiotics

Circular Health therefore focuses on the development of more sustainable production concepts and highly specific suitable active ingredients for plant cultivation and animal husbandry in order to reduce or completely avoid negative impacts. While new and innovative feeding systems are being developed in the field of animal husbandry, for example with antimicrobial ingredients, that are intended to enable largely antibiotic-free husbandry, the focus in the field of plant cultivation is on the development of biobased pesticides for which negative effects on humans, animals and the environment can be largely ruled out.   

A key contribution to the effective application of the active ingredients is provided by their tailored formulation. New cultivation methods in hydroponic systems also enable the use of purified wastewater for fertilizing irrigation, while new biotechnological cultivation and utilization concepts for microalgae, insects and fungi enable the low-emission production of protein-rich food and feed.

Holistic use of biogenic raw materials

The holistic use of biogenic raw materials helps to increase resource efficiency and close material cycles. Against the backdrop of increasingly scarce raw materials, this is a decisive factor in ensuring the security of supply for society. One realized example of this is the new EthaNa® pilot plant at Fraunhofer CBP, which can be used to increase material value through gentle processing of rapeseed. Based on the principle of a biorefinery, it not only supplies high-quality rapeseed oil in pre-raffinate quality, but also a rapeseed kernel concentrate, rich in high-quality proteins, secondary plant substances dissolved in ethanol, and rapeseed husks as other products.

In order to sustainably ensure the health of humans, animals and the environment in the long term, it is essential to develop innovative solutions to ward off biological hazards from the environment. These dangers include zoonoses as well as pathogenic microorganisms that have become resistant to antibiotics.

Strategies for monitoring and controlling pathogens and resistance

Microbial resistance to antibiotics has spread rapidly around the world and poses one of the greatest threats to humanity, especially as fewer and fewer new antibiotics are developed. A major cause of the development of resistance is the non-specific and uncritical use of antibiotics in medicine and livestock farming, and their uncontrolled release into the environment as a consequence to that. The aim of Circular Health is to develop new methods to reduce the use of antibiotics in livestock farming and thus counteract the development of microbial resistance.

This includes the design of specific test systems for the development of veterinary therapeutics. A large number of the veterinary therapeutics used today originate from human medical development and are therefore often only effective to a limited extent in animals. In addition, if resistance develops, they can only be used to a limited extent in humans.

Various methods developed at the IGB for the diagnosis of pathogens and resistance in human and veterinary medicine as well as for environmental monitoring, make it possible to monitor the development of resistance and emerging pathogens. The use of bacteriophages offers a selective approach to reducing antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which is being pursued at the IGB. 

Due to the linear economy, the healthcare sector is characterized by its high demand for resources and a large ecological footprint. It causes around five percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and is responsible for up to ten percent of waste generation. A large portion of this waste consists of plastics, partly due to the increasing use of single-use products.

In contrast, the concept of circular health consists of a comprehensive implementation of circular economy principles. Based on a detailed analysis of the situation, products in the healthcare sector will have to be optimized in the future, taking into account the entire product life cycle and including all stages of the value chain. For example, both the use of biobased polymers and the implementation of recycling strategies offer solutions for greater sustainability in healthcare.

“Dry” processes for cleaning and disinfection, for example using plasma and UV-C, effectively contribute to reducing emissions.

At the BioCat institute branch in Straubing, a miniplant for the industry-oriented presentation of biobased polyesters and polyamides was also put into operation in 2023. We are currently researching biobased polyamides, poly(meth)acrylates and plastic additives, such as biobased plasticizers and nucleating agents. In addition, we offer our customers services in the field of polymer analysis and materials testing. Tests for the biodegradability of liquid substances are currently being established.

Pharmaceuticals are essential for human and animal health, but increased consumption and their often uncritical use lead to an increase in harmful and permanent residues in the environment, which can have undesirable effects on organisms, populations and ecosystems. Surface and groundwater as well as soils are particularly affected by this. Another problem is the development of resistance, which is facilitated by the excessive, non-specific and careless use of antibiotics.

Reducing problematic chemicals in the environment

Technical solutions for the collection and elimination of pollutants, e.g. PFAS or drug residues, from wastewater provide a remedy to reduce the harmful effects of persistent substances via drinking water (see article on PFAS, page x). At the same time, it is important to minimize the input of pollutants and pharmaceuticals into the environment and to focus on the development of environmentally friendly, biodegradable pharmaceuticals. For this purpose, methods are needed for the rapid and comprehensive assessment of the environmental hazard potential of new active substances.

Strategies against climate change and biodiversity loss

Essential for human health is a healthy environment that is characterized by a high level of biodiversity. This is because the ecosystems that build on this diversity produce clean air, drinking water, food and active ingredients. Since biodiversity has declined dramatically in recent decades, there is an acute need for action to reduce or completely avoid anthropogenic contributions to biodiversity loss.

In order to protect and preserve biodiversity, we are primarily concerned with the development of circular value chains to reduce waste and greenhouse gases, of strategies and methods to reduce anthropogenic pollution in the environment, and of new food concepts for sustainable intensification of agriculture.