Bioplastics Bulletin

At the end of January 2017, the European Commission published their Roadmap for a Strategy on Plastics. François de Bie, Chairman of European Bioplastics, welcomed the Roadmap and said in a statement: “An EU Plastics Strategy is needed to drive continued change in the plastics industry towards an innovative, sustainable, and resource-efficient economy”. “The European Commission’s ambitious circular economy approach becomes apparent in the Roadmap. Alternatives to fossil feedstock such as biomass or CO2 will be taken into account for the manufacture of plastics. Furthermore, diverse end-of-life options will be assessed. Making use of biodegradation properties of bioplastics will [...]

European Bioplastics (EUBP), the European association representing the bioplastics industry in Europe, is conducting a survey amongst the plastics industry and other related stakeholder groups on the perception of bio-based plastics. EUBP wants to learn more about the perceived strengths, opportunities, challenges, and hurdles of bio-based plastics to unfold their full environmental, economic, and social potential in Europe. The survey aims to assess the general knowledge of and attitude towards bio-based plastics, sustainability aspects, material properties, innovation potential, and legislative measures. The results will help to provide better insights and new impulses to shape and drive the future of [...]

In each issue of the Bioplastics Bulletin, we present 5 facts about a member of European Bioplastics. In this issue, José Antonio Costa, Managing Director of AIMPLAS, shares some information about the non-profit research association located in Valencia, Spain. 5 facts about AIMPLAS, Valencia, Spain José Antonio Costa, Managing Director, AIMPLAS 20 years of experience working with biopolymers. More than 64 projects carried out with 330 companies for sectors such as packaging, agriculture, transport, construction, medicine and electric-electronic, resulting in three patents. Our activity includes the formulation of biopolymers to fit the requirements of the final application, [...]

Home-compostable bag made from Bio-Flex FX1803 (c) FKuR, 2017 The bioplastics specialist FKuR has developed new Bio-Flex blends for the production of thin films which will biodegrade completely in garden compost at low, variable temperatures. Most of the new compounds meet the requirements of Article 75 of the French Energy Transition Law according to which plastic bags for fruit and vegetables in French supermarkets have to be home-hompostable and contain a minimum of 30 percent of renewable raw materials (60% from 2025 onwards) since January 2017. The new Bio-Flex grades have been issued the OK Compost Home [...]

Latest market trends on bio-based building blocks released by nova-Institute: According to the latest market study by the nova-Institute on “Bio-based Building Blocks and Polymers – Global Capacities and Trends 2016 – 2021”, production capacities for bio-based polymers worldwide continue to grow despite difficult market environments. With 6.6 million tonnes production capacities in 2016, 2% of all polymers are already bio-based. The industry has had a turnover of €13 billion in 2016. Nova-Institute’s market study provides the most comprehensive overview of global figures on bio-based building blocks. European Bioplastics’ annual market data update 2016 is based on this report, [...]

On 24 January 2017 the European Parliament’s Environment Committee voted on the ambitious waste legislation proposal concerning the EU Circular Economy Package of rapporteur Simona Bonafè. European Bioplastics (EUBP) congratulates the rapporteur and the Committee on their strong efforts and the results of the vote. The vote adopted amendments of the Waste Framework Directive that will help to ensure a separate collection of bio-waste across Europe facilitated by certified collection tools such as compostable bio-waste bags. “The amendments ensure that the potential of bio-waste as a valuable resource can be tapped through organic recycling and will provide an important [...]