Dear members,

Please find below an overview of the activities of European Bioplastics throughout February 2018. 

Regulatory Affairs (WG REGA)

At the end of February, the amendments of the EU waste legislative package agreed to by the trilogues were published. The Waste Framework Directive mentions biodegradable plastics in Article 22 on ‘bio-waste’, which focuses on the collection of bio-waste. Even though the implementation of mandatory bio-waste collection is weakened by a link to the TEEP-clause (derogation option – where technically, economically or environmentally possible), several other points in the amendments suggest that by 2023 bio-waste collection will be boosted and that biodegradable plastics may be taken into consideration in this context. The Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive includes a recital that promotes the use of bio-based plastics for the production of packaging. Even though the recital is not of legal consequence at this point in time, it is an important first written mention of bio-based materials in a EU-level legislation. We will continue to lobby for our policy asks on bio-based feedstock for plastics and biodegradable plastics in connected dossiers like the Plastics Strategy and the Bioeconomy Strategy. On 26 February, the text was adopted in the European Parliament’s Environment Committee. The EP Plenary will vote on the amendments on 16 April, and the new legislation will be published officially. From that point on, Member States will have two years to adapt the changes into national law.

With regard to the Fertilisers Regulation, the trilogues between Commission, Parliament and Council have begun in late January. The second trilogue is planned for 20/21 March. In February, European Bioplastics arranged its first 12 meetings with stakeholders from the Commission (e.g. DG AGRI and DG GROW), the Parliament (MEPs Federley, Tarabella, Häusling) and the Council (NL, DE, HU, EE, ES, GRC, UK). Furthermore, we sent out invitations for a Parliamentary Event on 21 March hosted by MEP Franc Bogovic to discuss biodegradable mulches with the trilogue parties. We will continue our engagement programme in March and April and keep you updated on the progress.

With regard to the Plastics Strategy, the rapporteur and most of the shadow rapporteurs in the European Parliament have been announced: rapporteur is MEP Mark Demesmaeker (Belgian / ECR); shadow rapporteurs known to this date are Karl-Heinz Florenz (Germany / EPP), Simona Bonafè (Italian / S&D) and Annelie Jäätteenmäki (Finnish / ALDE). The Greens shadow is not yet known. The timeline for the process will be published in early March. European Bioplastics will send its position (currently being prepared) to the Parliament and the Council and start an engagement programme as of mid-March.

Parallel to the Plastics Strategy, the Commission published a report on oxo-degradable plastics based on the Eunomia report published at the end of 2016. The Commission's report calls for the restriction of oxo-plastics in Europe and says legislative measures shall be developed. The Parliament will take this report up together with its work on the Plastics Strategy. We will integrate our engagement on this initiative with our work on the Plastics Strategy.

With regard to the revision of the Bioeconomy Strategy, a roadmap has been published and can be commented on via a public consultation. You can download the document and reach the consultation here:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/initiatives/ares-2018-975361_en

European Bioplastics will coordinate its input with the European Bioeconomy Alliance.

WG REGA will meet next on 07 March in Brussels. 

For detailed information on the work of the WG Regulatory Affairs, contact Kristy-Barbara Lange (lange@european-bioplastics.org). 

Product Groups

Product Group Bio-based

PG Biobased met on 2 February in Berlin. The current work of the Task Forces was introduced. Furthermore, the members discussed the Plastics Strategy and a closer cooperation with WG Communications.

Task Force (TF) 1 (Sustainability evaluation) introduced the completed development of an estimation of land use for bioplastics. For 2018, some further improvements on the methodology are planned. Furthermore, the TF will develop a concept paper on the purpose of bio-based plastics and further collect publically available LCI data for bioplastics.

TF 2 (End of life) held a web-meeting on February 13 and decided to prepare/update fact sheets on relevant end-of-life options for bio-based plastics, starting with mechanical recycling and incineration.

TF 3 (Chemicals and intermediates) introduced the mapping of existing building blocks for bioplastics and biopolymers and has now developed a second draft of the document. The mapping will be used for a background paper. The TF plans to have a web-meeting in March (date tbc).

Contact: Constance Ißbrücker (issbruecker@european-bioplastics.org)

Product Group Biodegradables

PG Biodegradables met on 2 February to discuss recent policy developments. The PG is currently revising the background paper on EN13432 certified plastics in industrial composting plants and plans to update the meta study about the behaviour of bioplastic films in mechanical recycling in the coming weeks. With regard to the oxo-favourable legislation in Saudi Arabia, the PG decided to send a letter to the responsible authorities.

Contact: Constance Ißbrücker (issbruecker@european-bioplastics.org)

Working Group Standardisation

EUBP is now a member of the mirror committee to CEN/TC 249 WG 24 “Environmental Aspects”. The next meeting of the DIN group will take place on March 14.

CEN/TC 261 SC 4 WG2 has shared the updated version of the first draft on the new standard for home compostable carrier bags. There is still no official mandate for the development of this document. The next meeting of the group will be on April 17 in Paris.

The new standard EN17033 (“Plastics- Biodegradable mulch films for use in agriculture and horticulture – Requirements and test methods”) has been published end of January. The document was developed in CEN/TC 249 WG 7 and is designed to be a clear reference for farmers, distributors, and stakeholders, and to be the basis for further certification and according labels for biodegradable mulch films. EN 17033 is likely to replace other pre-existing national standards in Europe.

Contact: Constance Ißbrücker (issbruecker@european-bioplastics.org)

Communications

Please find in the following links a selection of relevant media clippings from February 2018.

In case you missed the February issue of our ‘Bioplastics Bulletin’, you can read it here.

At the end of February 2018, the European Council and European Parliament published their provisional agreements on the EU waste legislation package first published by the Commission in 2015. The legislative package includes the revision of the Waste Framework Directive and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. The new directives acknowledge that bio-based feedstock for plastic packaging as well as compostable plastics for separate bio-waste collection contribute to more efficient waste management and help to reach the new recycling targets. EUBP published a press release on 28 February welcoming the agreements. You can read our press release here.

The Working Group Communications is currently gathering funding to produce a series of short animated video clips on bioplastics. The videos will be used online and on social media and are aimed at the general and interested public in order to correct some of the most common misunderstandings about bioplastics. We will be working with an illustrator based in the UK who’s worked for a number of big brands, including the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and their New Plastics Economy Initiative. The funding needed for the videos is €30-40,000. The project will be financed through contributions from our members. We therefore kindly ask you to check and indicate whether you can contribute budget towards the realisation of this project.

For more information on the video project, or in case you have any questions concerning the communications activities of EUBP, please contact Katrin Schwede (schwede@european-bioplastics.org).

Events

Save the date! The 13^th European Bioplastics Conference will take place on 4/5 December 2018 at the Titanic Chaussee Hotel in Berlin, Germany. The Call for Papers will be distributed in March 2018. If you would like to contribute to the 2018 programme, or participate in this year’s newly added set of poster presentation sessions, please get in touch.

If you would like more information about the European Bioplastics Conference or discuss how to get involved this year, please get in touch with Joanna Wilde (wilde@european-bioplastics.org).  

Research Projects

In February 2018, the PolyBioSkin consortium has been working towards the submission of three technical reports that are due at the end of the month. In addition, preparations have begun for hosting the next project consortium meeting in Berlin at the end of April.

EUBP is preparing a submission to the on-going public consultation on EU funds in the area of investment, research & innovation, SMEs and single market. If you would like to have your say on the way in which the European Commission is supporting and funding research and development in Europe, you can respond to the survey until 8th March.

If you would like to find out more, please get in touch with Götz Ahrens (ahrens@european-bioplastics.org).

Planned activities March 2018

• WG Regulatory Affairs: engagement with EP and Council on Fertilisers Regulation and planning of breakfast event in EP (21 March); meeting with cabinets of Vice Presidents Katainen and Timmermans (20 March); finalise position on Plastics Strategy (including oxo-report) and start engagement programme (meet rapporteur MEP Demesmaeker on 20 March).
• Update Feedstock paper and development of concept paper (TF1)
• Finalisation of compilation of LCA data (TF1)
• Development Fact Sheet Mechanical Recycling and Incineration (TF2)
• Mapping of bio-based building blocks, Web Meeting (TF3)
• Update of the next draft on the Background Paper on compostable plastics and the recycling meta study (PG Biodegradables)
• WG Comms: collect funding for the production of short animated video series on bioplastics

If you have any suggestions regarding the content and/or format of our monthly report, please do not hesitate to share them with us. 

This email is sent to all the contacts of our member companies that we have registered in our database. If you would like to share it with further colleagues, kindly send us an email to members@european-bioplastics.org.

Kind regards, 
Hasso v. Pogrell