Bioplastics News
News in brief: February 2021
Algae represent a largely untapped resource in Europe The European Commission is preparing a comprehensive, cross-sectorial EU algae initiative, aimed at increasing the sustainable production, consumption, and use of algae-based products. Because of its small carbon and environmental footprint, the increased use of algae will help achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal. The Commission says that algae [...]
The added value of compostable plastics for the circular economy
For quite some time now, the European Commission (EC) is putting a special focus on biodegradable and compostable polymers when assessing the general role of bioplastics. This becomes obvious when looking at the number of related EU studies and reports that had been published in 2020. The last publication in this regard was the European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism’s [...]
Member portrait: Avantium
In each issue of the Bioplastics Newsletter, we present some facts about a member of European Bioplastics. This month, Ed De Jong, VP Development at Avantium, shares some interesting insights on his company. 5 facts about Avantium, Netherlands Avantium is a chemical technology company, headquartered in Amsterdam, employing approximately 230 people, with extensive R&D laboratories and three pilot plants: [...]
News from the members: January 2021
Corbion to expand lactic acid production capacity in North America Recently, Corbion announced that it is planning to expand its lactic acid capacity at its manufacturing facility in Blair, Nebraska by around 40%. Lactic acid can be used for the production of polylactic acid (PLA). The demand for PLA on the markets remains high, and the industry is putting [...]
News in brief: January 2021
Yum China launches plastic reduction and sustainable packaging initiatives Yum, the operator of fast-food chain KFC and restaurant brand Pizza Hut announced new environmentally friendly packaging initiatives that are expected to reduce its amount of non-degradable plastics by approximately 8,000 tonnes annually starting this year. Some of the initiatives include replacing existing plastic packaging with paper straws, paper bags, [...]
EU Commission report confirms role of biodegradable plastics within a circular economy
This year has already seen quite an impressive number of studies, reports, and additional publications related to bioplastics that were published by the European Commission (EC). Most of them contribute to the development of a framework for bioplastics included in the EC’s Circular Economy Action Plan. For the bioplastics industry, a clear framework is paramount to ensure reliability in [...]