Bioplastics News
Europe to ramp up funding for bio-based plastics
The European Commission will increase the funding for research and development of innovative bio-based plastics and to further improve plastic recycling. During the press conference on the European Strategy on Plastics earlier this month, the Commission’s Vice-President Jyrki Katainen said: “we are also ready to finance or increase financing for new innovations in recyclability and new oil-free raw materials. [...]
Member portrait: SPHERE
Jean-Marc Nony, Sustainable Development Director, SPHERE In each issue of the Bioplastics Bulletin, we present 5 facts about a member of European Bioplastics. This month, Jean-Marc Nony, Sustainable Development Director at SPHERE, shares some information on the French family group and leading European manufacturer of household packaging and bioplastic bags. 5 facts about SPHERE, FRANCE Founded in [...]
New circular, compostable packaging materials awarded with $1m Innovation Prize
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation announced the winners of its $1 million Circular Materials Challenge at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The winners will join a 12-month accelerator programme working with experts to make their innovations marketable at scale. Among the winners are a number of innovative biopolymers and applications for bioplastics, including EUBP member Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate [...]
Bio-based food packaging through the eyes of the consumer
Companies in the food sector are increasingly looking for alternatives to conventional plastic packaging to reduce their CO2 footprint and are switching to packaging solutions made from renewable raw materials. A team at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands is studying the perceptions of bio-based packaging among consumers and aims to give manufacturers and retailers advise on making [...]
In brief (January 2018)
Non-biodegradable cotton buds prohibited in Italy from 2019: Italy will be the first country to ban non-biodegradable plastic cotton buds as of 2019. The Italian parliament adopted a proposal on 19 December 2017 to only allow the production and sale of cotton buds that are biodegradable and compostable according to the European standard EN 13432 for industrial composting. The [...]
In Brief (December 2017)
Mazda teams with Mitsubishi Chemical to develop bio-based engineering plastic grade: Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. and Mazda have jointly developed a new grade of Durabio, a bio-derived polycarbonate engineering plastic suitable for molding large cosmetic automotive parts. Durabio is based partially on isosorbide, which in turn is derived from sorbitol, a widely available natural feedstock. Mazda has adopted the material [...]