Dear members,

Please find below an overview of the activities of European Bioplastics throughout February 2019. 

Regulatory Affairs (WG REGA)

The final vote in the EP plenary on the ‘Marine pollution and the reduction of single-use plastics’ is envisaged for March 2019. The new directive includes biodegradable/compostable plastics under its scope. There are no exemptions planned for such materials. However, there are several recitals and articles in the document that might allow exemptions during the transposition phase (2019-2021) of this directive into national law.

WG Regulatory Affairs (WG REGA) elaborated recommendations summing up the corresponding text parts and sketching a rough narrative that would need to be adapted for national lobbying efforts in the Member States. The recommendation document is not intended for publication but serves as guideline. As national committees already started to meet to discuss adaptation of the Directive, lobbying in the Member States should be taken up rather immediately.

Three more important initiatives all spearheaded by DG Environment are:

1.) The implementing Act for marking of biodegradable plastic carrier bags: The responsible committee so far drafted a new mark and discussed this draft in two meetings with representatives of the member States. The problem with the envisaged approach is that no clear connection to independent third party certification is demanded and that ‘voluntary reporting’ might result in decreased verifiability as well as increased misuse of markings. What is more, existing markings, such as the Seedling, have not been taken into account. Last but not least, the draft marking contained discriminatory elements such as the slogan ‘do not litter ‘ as part of the logo that should apply to all packaging and not only to biodegradable plastics. EUBP is involved in the stakeholder process and is preparing further input with the members active in certification sector. Not least do to our first intervention, the current approach will be intensely revised, as we were informed.

2.) The revision of the Packaging Directive's essential requirements: The process has just started with a workshop on 11 March. EUBP is drafting a position and potential amendment suggestions based on the outcome of the workshop. The process is organised by UK-based cosultancy Eunomia and DG Environment.

3.) The preparation of guidelines for the eco-modulation of EPR fees: This process is moving parallel to the revision of the essential requirements and will also be covered in the workshop of 11 March. The position for the requirements will also feature input on eco-modulation of EPR fees. Also here Eunomia is DG Environment’s corresponding consultancy.

WG REGA invited EC-representative Leonardo Mazza (DG Environment) to its February meeting and received an update on the implementing act, the revision and the guidelines.

During the discussion of these initiatives, Mr Mazza also shared that the Commission had tasked UK-based consultancy Eunomia with a further study on the ‘Relevance of biodegradable plastics in a circular economy’, which was just internally kicked-off and will be finalised by end of 2019. A stakeholder consultation (2 workshops and a questionnaire mailing) will be started soon. This study will probably be the basis for defining criteria when a plastic should be compostable (as demanded in the Plastics Strategy) and further look into the topics home composting and AD. EUBP will engage in the process and keep you updated about any participation opportunities.

In late 2018 and early 2019, the Commission published two more important documents:

The state of play of the Circular Economy Package / Action Plan as well as a study by DG Research on ‘A circular economy for plastics – Insights from research and innovation to inform policy and funding decisions’ (chapters 4 and 9 most relevant).

WG REGA: the last WG REGA meeting took place on 19 March in Brussels.

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

Product Groups

Product Group Biobased

The next meeting of the PG Biobased will be via web and has been postponed to 13 March, 10 a.m. CET. The agenda foresees an update on the JRC study on LCA of alternative feedstocks for plastics production, a presentation on the ILUC research as part of the STARPROBIO project, and the development of a position paper on LCA for bioplastics.

For more information regarding bio-based plastics including sustainability issues and the work of the PG and TFs, please contact Constance Ißbrücker (issbruecker@european-bioplastics.org).

Product Group Biodegradables

The PG is working on a positive list for biodegradable applications in different environments. The next meeting will take place on 25 June 2019 in connection with the members meeting.

For more information regarding PG Biodegradables, the TF Marine, and Seedling certification, please contact Constance Ißbrücker (issbruecker@european-bioplastics.org).

Working Group Standardisation

CEN/TC 261/SC4/WG2 met on 18/19 February in Brussels to discuss the 3^rd draft on home-compostable carrier bags. The meeting will be continued on 28 March in Berlin. The day before (27 March), WG Standardisation will meet at EUBP to discuss this standard, the upcoming revision of EN 13432, and relevant developments on ISO level.

For more information on standards for bioplastics, current standardisation processes, and certification of bioplastics, please contact Constance Ißbrücker (issbruecker@european-bioplastics.org).

Communications

Please find at the following link a selection of relevant media clippings from February 2019.

In February, we have conducted an interview with Bloomberg on general aspects of the bioplastics market to be used for the drafting of an initial report. Additionally, we have conducted an interview with Germany’s scientific magazine Bild der Wissenschaft.

Currently, we are working on further updating the content of the following fact sheets:

• Bioplastics in the automotive market
• What are bioplastics?
• Standards for bioplastics
• Bioplastic carrier bags
• Bioplastic packaging
• Renewable resources in bio-based plastics

The WG Communications continues its work with the first clip on bioplastics. The final version of the storyboard has been approved and submitted to the graphic designer. The next steps include the recording of the voice-over and the animation of the storyboard. The clip is expected to be finished by September.

Additionally, in February the election of the Chairs for the next two years took place. Julia Lowett (Total Corbion PLA) is the new Chair, and Paolo Lascola (Novamont) is the Vice-Chair.

For more information or questions concerning the communications activities of EUBP, please contact Elena Cantos (cantos@european-bioplastics.org).

Events

Save the date! The 14th edition of the annual European Bioplastics Conference will take place on 3/4 December 2019 at the TITANIC Chaussee Hotel in Berlin, Germany. Following last year’s success and your overwhelmingly positive feedback, we are very happy to be able to host the event at this excellent venue again.

The conference will again put bioplastics in the limelight for over 400 senior executives from across the global bioplastics value chain. We have started accepting abstract submissions, so If you would like to express your interest to contribute to the agenda, recommend someone you know as an excellent speaker, or suggest highly relevant topics that really should be addressed at the 2019 edition, please download the Abstract Template or contact us on conference[at]european-bioplastics.org.

For more information regarding the EUBP Conference 2018 and 2019, please get in touch with Götz Ahrens (ahrens@european-bioplastics.org).  

Projects

The PolyBioSkin project half-term review meeting took place in Brussels on 28^th February, and a final summary of the review is expected in the coming weeks. The feedback received on the day was very positive, open issues and questions could be clarified, and the project consortium is very optimistic about successfully completing the project.

For more information regarding on-going and future project involvements, please get in touch with Götz Ahrens (ahrens@european-bioplastics.org).

Planned activities

• WG Regulatory Affairs:
  • Essential requirements and ecomodulation workshop 11 March
  • Position for essential requirements and ecomodulation
  • Organisation of REGA meeting on 19 March in Brussels
  • Position and amendments for implementing act
  • Planning information material and communication measures around EP elections in May
• Position regarding bioplastics LCA (PG Biobased, TF1).
• Web-Meeting PG Biobased 13 March
• Positive list for biodegradable materials in different environments.
• Meeting WG Standardisation 27 March
• Kick off meeting Plastic leak project 11 February
• Publication of PolyBioSkin newsletter and website update
• WG Communications meeting
• Update of fact sheets

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