Dear members,

Please find below an overview of activities carried out by European Bioplastics throughout February 2022.

Regulatory Affairs (WG REGA)

The European Bioplastics’ Working Group Regulatory Affairs (WG REGA) met on 16 February.

The meeting focussed on discussing EUBP’s input to the open public consultation on a future Policy Framework on biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics (deadline to respond 15 March 2022). EUBP has drafted a response which was sent to the WG REGA on 1 February for an initial review and comments. Key critical points and questions were discussed during the meeting and the draft response amended according to the agreed changes and compromises. The pre-final response was shared with key allies, incl. BON Europe network members and EUBA member associations to gather as much support as possible. It was also agreed that EUBP will draft a document explaining and clarifying some of the answers and issues to be attached to the notification of selected key stakeholders within the EU institutions about the submission of EUBP’s response. A Commission meeting on the Policy Framework Communication on Bio-based and Biodegradable/Compostable plastics (PFC) is planned for 11 May, and it is expected that the final Communication will be published then.

With regards to the current revision of the PPWD & ER, EUBP will continue outreach to the Commission (DG ENV B.3) as well as relevant members of the European Parliament and perm reps. A meeting with MEP Ries (former Rapporteur for the SUPD and potential Rapporteur for the revision of the PPWD) was held with EUBP (and member Futerro) on 3 February to discuss key positions and concerns on the PPWD proposal. After initial reservation, Ms Ries opened up to our concerns and requested further input on the current PPWD draft proposal (which EUBP followed up via mail), and a follow-up meeting was agreed once the proposal reaches EP. A further Commission meeting on the PPWD is planned for 13 July.

The Commission initiated a Call for Evidence in February 2022 for an environmental impact assessment of the EU waste management, which will likely lead to a legislative proposal to revise the EU Waste Framework Directive (WFD). Objectives of such a revision include decreasing waste generation, improving separate waste collection (incl. how to improve citizen participation in separate collection), avoiding contamination of recyclable waste and recycling streams, and expanding the role of EPR schemes in attaining waste-prevention objectives. EUBP has written and submitted input to the Call for Evidence which ended on 22 February 2022. A more comprehensive stakeholder consultation is planned to start in March 2022, initiated by an open (12-week) public consultation. It will be followed by targeted consultations and workshops to seek technical input. 

EUBP has received a response from the JRC in February 2022 on the joint position of EUBP and EUBA on the JRC’s LCA plastics methodology (which had been sent to the relevant Commissioners, Director Generals, Directors, Heads of Unit, and Policy Officers at DGs GROW, JRC, ENVI, AGRI, ECON, and RTD in December last year). EUBP has shared the response with EUBA, the WG REGA, as well as PG Biobased and does not plan any immediate (re-)action on this issue. However, EUBP will monitor to leave all options open and discuss it in more detail in the upcoming WG/PG meetings.

A new employee has been hired to fill the vacant position of EUBP Head of EU Affairs, who will commence work mid-March. The next meetings of the WG REGA will take place on 13 March and 16 April. In the meantime, for further detailed information on the work of the WG Regulatory Affairs, please see the slides and minutes of the REGA meetings and contact Hasso von Pogrell (pogrell@european-bioplastics.org) or Katrin Schwede (schwede@european-bioplastics.org).

BON Europe

BON Europe (Bioplastics Organisations Network) is an alliance of European Bioplastics and European national bioplastics organisations. The group has met on 3 February to share relevant developments at national level, incl. Germany’s vote on the revision of the biowaste ordinance, the French presidential campaign, and to discuss the latest updates on the national implementation of the SUPD as well as the consultation on the Policy Framework on biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics. EUBP will share its final response with the network in order to ensure alignment on the key issues and questions.

Maja Lisac has left EUBP at the beginning of March, and the other EUBP staff will take over the coordination of the BON network until Katharina Hinse returns from maternity leave. In the meantime, for more information regarding BON Europe, please contact Hasso von Pogrell (pogrell@european-bioplastics.org).  

Product Groups

Product Group Bio-based

The next meeting of the PG Bio-based will take place on 26 April 2022. TF meetings still need to be scheduled.

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 ad hoc Task Force on compostable plastics in mechanical recycling streams met on 23 February and discussed the status quo of a presentation that has been compiled previously. The work on the presentation is ongoing, and the next meeting is scheduled for March.

The next meeting of the PG Biodegradables is scheduled for 5 April 2022.

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

Working Group Standardisation

The WG Standardisation met in February to discuss the standard FprEN17427 “Packaging – Requirements and test scheme for carrier bags suitable for treatment in well-managed home composting installations”. The final vote on FprEN 17427 in the national committees runs till end of February/beginning of March. The timely proximity to the revision of the PPWD caused concerns that the standard might be picked up by the European Commission, which, in a worst-case scenario, could result in home compostability becoming the norm, replacing EN 13432. The group agreed that it would be good to slow down the process. However, with the chance of achieving an overall negative vote being low, for EUBP to promote to vote negatively could backfire. Therefore, the group didn’t reach an agreement on how to proceed and decided to continue the discussion in upcoming (external) meetings.

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 under the following link a selection of relevant media clippings from February 2022 (online).

Throughout February, EUBP Comms continued to support EUBP Event Management with the organization of the first edition of “EUBP Talk”. Comms’ support included, amongst others, the development of content for the event, the exchange with the moderator from Packaging Europe, and support in developing material for the event (e.g., Save the Date, invitation, EUBP Newsflash). The webinar was scheduled to take place on 9 March.

EUBP Comms also supported the development of a guest article for the Japanese bioplastics association JBPA. The article contributes to the 20 years anniversary edition of the association’s journal, which will be published in March (tbd).

EUBP was invited to give an overview on the global market data for bioplastics and an introduction about the key political processes on the EU level. Therefore, Comms developed a presentation which will be held 1 March.

Comms updated the EUBP website with the new market data and initiated the editorial process for the Annual Report 2021.

Additionally, EUBP Comms coordinated the responses to several requests by journalists, organizations, and companies regarding detailed information on different aspects of bioplastics..

For more information or questions concerning the communications activities of EUBP, please contact Oliver Buchholz (buchholz@european-bioplastics.org).

Seedling Logo

A more comprehensive communication strategy concerning the Seedling label is currently under development and will be discussed with certifiers on 17 March.

The certification scheme for the Seedling Logo is currently being revised. The next meeting of the ACS will be on 18 March, at 2:00 pm.

For more information on the Seedling Logo or the Certification Scheme, please contact Constance Ißbrücker (issbruecker@european-bioplastics.org). 

Events

EUBP Event Management worked on the planning of the first EUBP Talk. Speakers have been confirmed (from Avon, Dow Chemical and Kimberly-Clark) and the registration has been opened. Technical options have been tested and the decision to implement the webinar via Zoom Webinar has been made.

The networking event and the Members Meeting will take place at the Representation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in Brussels on 22 and 23 June.

For more information or questions concerning the annual conference and further EUBP events, please contact Denise Valdix (valdix@european-bioplastics.org).

Projects

BIOnTop (Project month: 32 of 48)

https://biontop.eu/ (BBI-JU)

Besides preparing the project's next External Advisory Board meeting in April/May, Albstadt-Sigmaringen University of Applied Sciences (ASU) submitted a report on the processing and testing of the barrier and repellence coatings' processing and testing BIOnTOP films & trays (whey protein coating and fatty acid grafting).

With the upcoming Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference 2022, organised by the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ECESP) on 1-2 March, EUBP was selected to represent BIOnTop in the conference's Virtual Network Village. For this event, all dissemination partners supplied new content to enhance networking with other stakeholders along the connected value chains.

In the next few months, the project will tackle the processing and production of mono- and multilayer films that will eventually result in the envisioned packaging solutions for fruits and vegetables and dairy and personal care products. BIOnTop will also address the processing of nets and the development of textile fibres and fabrics for packaging in the next six months. EUBP is responsible for dissemination and communication tasks and mapping and monitoring relevant regulatory and standardisation issues.

BIOMAC (Project month: 14 of 48)

https://www.biomac-oitb.eu/ (Horizon 2020)

The consortium started entering the final phase to complete the first version of BIOMAC’s Framework and End User Agreements. Led by IBB Netzwerk GmbH and concluded by a working group on 10 February, both documents will be circulated among the legal departments of the partners to finalise both agreement documents by the end of June 2022. The framework document will then serve as a contract to enable the consortium to act as an entity and provide end-user services. Together with a report on BIOMAC’s single entry point (IBB) operational procedures, the project’s pilot lines will also have received their upgrades in June.

By the middle of February, EUBP also met with partners of the University of Padua to discuss BIOMAC’s market analysis and provide input. In EUBP’s task on the standardisation and regulatory landscape, a meeting with the safety compliance lead (university of Burgos, Spain) and NEN has been scheduled. Furthermore, all partners participated in several calls on the overall proceedings of other Open Innovation Test Bed projects and coordinated communication and dissemination tasks, led by EUBIA.

PRESERVE (Project month: 14 of 48)

https://www.preserve-h2020.eu/ (Horizon 2020)

EUBP is leading a task to create a report on the planned exploitation activities and utilisation of project results. This “Innovation Roadmap 2030” will serve as a guideline to which technical and involved partners will severely contribute. Completing a first version of this report is planned for the middle of the year, and EUBP will undertake extensive preliminary planning and align with the draft dissemination and exploitation plan provided by project partner KNEIA (due December 2022). Therefore, an internal project exchange is scheduled for 11 March to avoid conflicts with corresponding tasks dealing with regulatory assessment. This will also support PRESERVE’s input to a joint workshop on 27 April, organised together with its project siblings UPLIFT and upPE-T.

BioSupPack (Project month: 8 of 42)

https://biosuppack.eu/ (BBI-JU)

All consortium partners provided a short technical and financial reporting of the first six months, and both communication and dissemination leaders (ENCO and EUBP) prepared the postponed first assembly of BioSupPack’s Advisory Board with scheduling ongoing for April/May. EUBP also prepared a draft of its deliverable and the following steps to provide a regulatory and safety compliance report. An overview of the regulatory landscape is also planned for the second half of 2022. These preparations also serve as updates to similar documents for PRESERVE and BIOnTop regarding summaries of the regulatory frameworks and standardisation efforts.

Status of project partnering, other HORIZON 2020/EUROPE projects, and proposal/grant agreements:

With the opening of new calls in the HORIZON EUROPE framework focussing on the development of bio-based/biodegradable products, since December 2021, EUBP entered several potential collaborations and project proposals. EUBP supports these as a potential partner responsible for communication and dissemination activities, networking, regulatory affairs, and standardisation issues to six partner consortia in a call to develop novel biodegradable materials (CIRCBIO-02-03). All six involved consortia submitted their proposal before 15 February. In summary, 27 applications were submitted across Europe in the first stage of the funding topic, of which six submissions will be selected for a second stage to extend their proposal until the end of September. EUBP is also working with a consortium to develop safe- and sustainable-by-design organic and hybrid coatings in RESILIENCE-01-23 (due 30 March).

For more information or requests concerning EUBP’s project involvements, please contact Christian Schulz (schulz@european-bioplastics.org).

Planned activities

Regulatory Affairs:

• Response to the Commission’s public consultation on a Policy Framework Communication on Bioplastics, including additional position paper to elaborate on some of the answers and comments (deadline: 15 March)
• Further political outreach at MS and EU Level on PPWD
• Political outreach on EU Taxonomy

Communications:

• Update EUBP publications with market data 2022
• Editorial process for Annual Report 2021
• Update EUBP website (policy part)
• Input for several media outlets (e.g., Il Bioeconomista, K-News etc.)
• Development generic posts for social media scheduling tool

BON Europe:

• Individual meetings with BON members

PG Bio-based:

• Next PG meeting on 26 April 2022
• Start TF Projects
• Development of fact sheet on bio-based content and mass balance

PG Biodegradables:

• Meeting ad hoc TF Recycling on 23 March
• Meeting ad hoc TF Agri 23 March
• Next PG meeting on 5 April 2022
• Development of presentation on fate of compostables in mechanical recycling streams
• Development of position on anaerobic digestion

WG Standardisation:

• Meeting on 3 March to discuss prEN17428
• Monitoring the work of CEN/TC 261 SC 4 WG 2 and the revision of EN 13432
  

Seedling Logo:

• Next ACS Meeting on 18 March 2022
• Meeting with certifiers on 17 March on improved and extended messaging for the seedling logo
  
• Update certification scheme

Projects and Networks:

• Further assessment and definition of potential project proposals for new Horizon Europe calls – 30 March: Submission deadline for RESILIENCE-01-23 
• 7 March: Presentation of project progresses in innovative bio-based packaging (BIOnTop and PRESERVE) at PackagingWorX conference
• 27 April: Joint workshop of PRESERVE, UPLIFT and upPE-T project siblings on standardization activities
• Update overviews on regulatory frameworks and standardisation efforts for PRESERVE, BioSupPack, and BIOnTop and additionally manage exploitation roadmap for PRESERVE in H1/22

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

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