Dear members,

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

Regulatory Affairs (WG REGA)

With regard to the draft directive on ‘Marine pollution and the reduction of single-use plastics’, the key dates were the adoption of the European Parliament's (EP) report in the EP ENVI Committee on 10 October and in the plenary on 24 October. We analysed the amendments received by EP ENVI, and prepared corresponding voting recommendations that we first shared with representatives of the ENVI Committee as well as with about 280 MEPs involved in the key Committees (ENVI, AGRI, ITRE, ECON, PECH) in preparation for the plenary vote. The plenary vote resulted in the following points relevant to our industry:

• very lightweight bags are no longer included in the EP report;
• marine biodegradation was deleted from the EP report;
• a definition of biodegradable plastics was included:
• a (very limited) exemption for plates and cutlery was adopted; and
• the use of oxo-plastics was restricted.

This report is, however, not the end of the process. Contrary to the presentation in the media, the Single-use dossier is not finalised. The trilogues start in early November. The Commission, the Parliament and the Council will compare their respective positions and will define compromises. The overall deadline to close this dossier is ambitious, as the Austrian Presidency wants to finalise it under their leadership. This means the process will probably come to an end before 20 December.

EUBP's main goals in this phase of the dossier are:

• to keep bags from being re-introduced;
• to support in a clear and careful concept of, and approach to, marine biodegradability;
• to make it clear that exemptions for plates and cutlery are not sufficient to guarantee hygiene standards and do not reflect consumption realities;
• to keep oxo-plastics restricted.

Furthermore, the Council suggests treating the Single-use directive a 'lex specialis', which would mean that it prevails in situations of conflict with other directives such as the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive or the Waste Framework Directive. We see this as potential danger for realising the provisions boosting a circular economy, separate collection and sound waste management. The established Directives that have recently been widely updated need to take precedence.

The first trilogue took place on 6 November and was a mere exchange of positions. Two more trilogues are expected on 28 November and in December (tbc).

EUBP Press release:
https://www.european-bioplastics.org/reduction-of-single-use-plastics-needs-to-tie-in-with-circular-economy-actions-and-consumption-realities-in-europe/

WG REGA: the next meeting might take place in December (tbd; possibly phone call or brief meeting during EUBP conference).

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

Product Groups

Product Group Biobased

TF1 will compile the new 2018 data for the land use of bio-based plastics, which will be published together with the market data during the EUBP conference at the beginning of December.

EUBP is an Advisory Board member of the H2020 RIA Project STAR-Pro-Bio. The project consortium dedicated a whole day to a meeting with external stakeholder to discuss the current project outcomes on 9 October. The project aims to develop a new scheme to assess sustainability of bio-based products by identifying reasonable criteria from the ecological and the socio-economic pillars. One work package (WP) on ILUC is included, which is seen critically by EUBP in the current status quo. We will try to establish a communication with the WP leader and EUBP members to discuss the topic and its possible outcome when communicated to a broader audience.

EUBP has also given feedback to a Stakeholder Consultation distributed by the EU Project RoadToBio, which aims to develop a roadmap outlining a path to achieve a 25 per cent share of bio-based products in the organic chemical industry until 2030 (this share has been 10 per cent in 2016).

EUBP has given a presentation at the ERRIN bioeconomy working group regarding “Sustainable solutions for bio-based plastics on land and sea” as preparation for the upcoming call in the framework of Horizon 2020 fundings (CE-BG-06-2019).

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 finalisation of the comprehensive Background Paper on biodegradable mulch films is on-going. Publication is planned for November.

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

Working Group Standardisation

On 15/16 October, CEN/TC 261/SC4/WG2 had a meeting to discuss the comments on the latest draft of the standard on home compostable carrier bags. Several issues were solved; still open is the development of a “Best Practice Guide” on home composting. A third draft of the document will be shared early December. In this context, is a planned to organise a web meeting of the WG.

In July, EUBP has commented on a document by the CEN/SAVE ENV team called “Standardisation needs in the area of plastics and microplastics in the environment”. The original draft contained several questionable chapters, especially on biodegradable plastics and the according standardisation. The document has now been revised, also regarding the critical wordings identified by EUBP and other stakeholders.

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 October 2018:
http://docs.european-bioplastics.org/association/clippings/2018/Media_clippings_October_2018.pdf

In October, we have published two press releases on the draft directive on ‘Marine pollution and the reduction of single-use plastics’ and on the European Bioeconomy Strategy. Several media articles and conference sneak-peak interviews were submitted to media partners, encouraging delegates and potential exhibitors to get involved. Two preview articles will be published in November 2018. Press invitations for journalists to attend the conference were sent out.

The WG Communications will meet in November to finalize the storyboard of the two animated videos on the benefits and end-of-life options of bioplastics. The aim is to finish both videos in the next couple of months.

Speaking Opportunities: EUBP participated on stage in the Bio-Based packaging Masterclass, which was a side event of the Sustainability in Packaging Conference at the end of October in Barcelona. Furthermore, EUBP held a keynote presentation at a conference of the Spanish packaging cluster to give an overview on current developments in the bioplastics market.

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

Events

The preparations for the 13th European Bioplastics Conference taking place on 4/5 December 2018 at the TITANIC Chaussee Hotel in Berlin are in the final stages. The exhibition hall is almost sold-out with 34 exhibitors to date. By the end of October, almost 250 participants have already registered.

In October, a mailing with the final agenda and speaker line-up was released. Another mailing with some conference highlights and a reminder to register for the event is planned for November 2018.

We are happy to announce that Futerro, Sulzer Chemtech, and TechnipFMC also joined the group of sponsors for the conference. We are now grateful of the support from BASF, BE O, Biotec, NatureWorks, OWS, NatureWorks PTT MCC, and Total Corbion PLA.

If you too would like to register for the EUBP Conference or discuss how to get involved this year, please get in touch with Joanna Wilde (wilde@european-bioplastics.org).  

Planned activities July 2018

• WG Regulatory Affairs:
  • Engagement programme with trilogue parties on single-use dossier.
  • Participation in EC workshop on single-use plastics and marine pollution
    (28 November).
  • Participation in EC workshop on LCA and plastic (29/30 November).
• Finalize position regarding bioplastics LCA (TF1).
• Finalisation of land use estimation data for bio-based plastics 2018.
• Finalisation of Fact Sheet Mechanical Recycling and drafting of Fact Sheet Chemical Recycling (TF2).
• Background Paper on bio-based building blocks (TF3).
• Finalisation of the Background Paper on biodegradable mulch films
  (PG Biodegradables).
• Meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Seedling Logo (8 November, Brussels).
• Creation of the new market data graphics (in cooperation with nova-Institute).
• Month 18 PolyBioSkin consortium meeting in Rome.
• Presentation of PolyBioSkin project at conference in Rome on 22 November.
• Publication of PolyBioSkin newsletter.
• WG Communications meeting.

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