Exploring How Material Demonstrators Accelerate the Transition to a Circular Bioeconomy

Taking ideas to market can be a long, iterative, and complex process. When dealing with new bio-based materials, understanding factors that help bridge the lab-to-market gap and how materials are selected for new product development have the potential to speed up the transition to a circular bioeconomy. This article defines abstract and conceptual material demonstrators and explores how they support the innovation process in different ways. Nine roles are identified, including how material demonstrators contribute to generating and expressing new ideas, enable a shared understanding of technology, support the discovery of market value and the visualization of potential applications as well as helping to articulate internal and external strategies and communications. Abstract and conceptual material demonstrators are exemplified with both technology-driven and market-driven bio-based materials used in packaging.