According to European Bioplastics, bioplastics are biobased, biodegradable, or both.
The term “biobased” describes the part of a material or product that is derived from biomass. When making a biobased claim, the unit (biobased carbon content or biobased mass content) expressed as a percentage and the method of measurement should be clearly stated.
Biodegradability is an inherent property of certain polymers that can be suitable for specific applications, e.g. biowaste bags. Biodegradation is a chemical process in which materials, with the help of microorganisms, are metabolised to water, carbon dioxide, and biomass. When materials biodegrade under conditions and within a timeframe defined by the European standards for industrial composting EN 13432, they can be certified and labelled as industrially compostable.