Dear members,

Please find below an overview of the activities of European Bioplastics throughout September 2017. 

Regulatory Affairs (WG REGA)

View the latest EU policy update here.

With regard to the trilogues around the waste legislative proposals, EUBP continued its liaison programme with Permanent Representations (Perm Reps) of the EU Member States in September. Furthermore, we started to organise an aperitif event together with other associations focussing on the 4th trilogue on 25 October in order to gain more support for the amendments in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD). The main points of the discussion in the trilogues are still Extended Producer Responsibility and recycling targets. The amendments most relevant to us have not been discussed in detail yet. But with a range of technical Council meetings coming up in October we count on more insights in the next weeks.

Linked to the discussions on the waste legislation and other circular economy dossiers, EUBP intensified engagement with several stakeholder groups. We shared our discussion paper on ‘Biodegradable plastics in the Circular Economy’ with European Compost Network requesting official comments on the selection of applications promoted therein. The Board of ECN started to discuss our paper and is currently drafting its response.
What is more, during an event about the ‘Opportunities and risks of bioplastics’ organised by German BiNa (Biokunststoffe Nachhaltig) project in Berlin on 21 September, we had the opportunity to get an update on several NGOs’ perspective on bioplastics (the feedstock aspect as well as the end of life aspect). Meadhbh Bolger of Friends of the Earth presented for the ‘Rethink Plastics’ Alliance and delivered a way more moderate position on biomass use and biodegradability than was shared by the Alliance a few months back in a joint position paper.

On the Plastics Strategy, EUBP was able to mobilise the European Bioeconomy Alliance and draft a letter in all 12 associations’s names with concrete policy asks. The letter was sent to all relevant Commissioners involved in the process. Furthermore, EUBP participated alongside Catia Bastioli of Novamont and Nina Maier of European Network of Environmental Protection Agencies in a panel discussion on bioplastics at the Commission’s stakeholder event on 26 September in Brussels. The timing was very limited and just enough to share our position and answer a few questions. It became clear that further input on sustainability of feedstock and also on biodegradability performance in different composting plant types is necessary. We will prepare / update corresponding papers. Due to availability issues of the key Commission representatives, EUBP had to postpone the planned recycling plant visit. Interest was shown by several directorate generals but no common date could be identified in October and November. We will revisit this idea beginning of 2018.

On the Fertilisers Regulation, EUBP continues to monitor the position of the plenary. The plenary vote on the IMCO Committee’s report has been postponed to 24 October. In the meantime we continue our engagement programme with the Parliament (most relevant new rapporteur Mihai Turcanu) and the Council. Recently we met with France and Sweden receiving neutral to positive feedback on our arguments and suggestions.

The Bioeconomy Strategy revision evaluation of DG Research is on-going. A stakeholder conference is planned for 14-16 November. EUBP has been invited to participate in a panel discussion on 16 November. With regard to key recommendations for a revision the European Bioeconomy Alliance has prepared a paper with detailed suggestions.

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

Product Groups

PG Biodegradables: The PG Biodegradables is working on a background paper focussing on the biodegradation process of bioplastics. This document will be based on a paper of the German “Verbund kompostierbare Produkte” and the first draft has been shared with the group in August.

EUBP has submitted comments on the first draft of the standard on home compostable carrier bags as prepared by CEN/TC 261/SC4/WG2. The ad hoc group EN13432 will discuss the collated comments in a web meeting on October 12 to share a common position in the CEN committee meeting end of October.

PG Bio-based:

• TF 1 (Sustainability evaluation) has started work by developing a new method to estimate the land use for bioplastics. The final approach will be discussed in a web meeting in early October. The first personal meeting of the group will be on 3 November.
• TF 2 (End of life) will have a first conference call in October to discuss the deliverables in terms of end-of-life of biobased plastics. An update of the Fact Sheet on Mechanical Recycling will be one of the first projects.
• TF 3 (Chemicals and intermediates) plans to have a first personal meeting at the end of November.

EUBP participated in a web meeting of CEN/TC 249/WG 17 to discuss the comments on the latest draft on the standard on bio-based plastics (“Plastics – Bio-based polymers, plastics, and plastic products – Terminology, characteristics, and communication”).

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

Communications

Please find a selection of media clippings from September 2017 here.

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

On 21 September, EUBP published a press statement on the importance of biodegradable plastics to increase recycling efficiency. The statement came as a response to claims made by the association of Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) in a press release on the alleged negative impacts of biodegradable plastics on the quality and process of mechanical recycling. You can read our press release here.

The WG Communications met for a conference call on 12 September in order to discuss the draft script for the planned bioplastics movie. EUBP will now adapt the script accordingly and invite quotes and compare offers from different film production companies.

If you have any questions concerning the communications activities of EUBP and the WG Comms, please contact Katrin Schwede (schwede@european-bioplastics.org).

Events

12th EUBP Conference 

The 12th European Bioplastics Conference takes place on 28/29 November 2017. The final programme will be published at the beginning of October. A sneak-peek mailing announcing the preliminary speaker-line-up was distributed mid-September. A focus of this year’s programme will be on new building blocks, alternative feedstock and process routes, as well as EoL outside industrial composting. We are immensely please to announce the brand owners Marks and Spencer, BiOBUDDI, and PepsiCo will share their insights into the use of bioplastics.

Registration is in full swing, and the exhibition is almost sold out, so don’t miss the opportunity to book one of the few remaining spaces to showcase your company during the conference.

Book your sponsorship package! Sponsorship is an integral element of the conference. Our special thanks goes to BASF, who is this year’s platinum sponsor. To find out more about how best to promote your brand at the leading industry event in Europe, simply download the sponsorship options here or get in touch with us directly.

If you would like more information about the upcoming 12th European Bioplastics Conference please get in touch with Joanna Wilde (wilde@european-bioplastics.org).

Bio!CAR, 20/21 September, Stuttgart

Constance Ißbrücker participated in the conference organised by the bioplastics Magazine and held a key note speech on the benefits of bioplastics materials in automotive applications.

Research Projects

EUBP currently participates in consortia that have submitted proposals responding to the following Horizon2020 BBI calls:

• The BBI-IA-DEMO topic D.5 concerning Advanced bio-based fibres and materials for large-volume applications
• The BBI-RIA topic R.6 concerning Competitive biodegradable, compostable and/or recyclable bio-based plastics for a sustainable end-of-life phase
• The BBI-CSA topic S.1 seeking to Establish cooperation and partnership with brand owners and consumer representatives to improve the market access of sustainable bio-based products

The submission deadline for all projects was September 7. If you would like to find out more about these projects, please get in touch with Götz Ahrens (ahrens@european-bioplastics.org).

Planned activities October 2017

• CEP: contact programme with Council, monitoring of trilogues, twitter action to urge Council to support our points; organisation of apéro event for Council members on 5 October
• Council mailings on Fertilisers dossier / waste legislation
• Participation in EC workshop on bioplastics (Plastics Strategy process) on 18 October
• Update land use estimation for bioplastics (PG Biobased TF1)
• First Online Meeting of PG Biobased TF 1 and TF2
• Preparation of the next draft on the Background Paper on compostable plastics (PG Biodegradables)
• Preparation of first draft on Position Paper on EN13432 (ad hoc Group EN13432)
• Next meeting of CEN/TC 261/SC4/WG2 (Draft on home compostable carrier bags)
• Web meeting ad hoc EN13432
• Annual meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Seedling logo

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