Hasso von PogrellOp-ed by Hasso von Pogrell, Managing Director, European Bioplastics

On 12 April 2016, at the bioeconomy stakeholders’ conference BioEconomyUtrecht2016, the Working Group on Public Procurement of the European Commission’s Expert Group for Bio-based Products published 15 recommendations for an increased uptake of bio-based products in public procurement programmes. The report includes a range of promotional campaigns targeting specific materials, regions, and sectors, the roll-out of standards and labels, benchmarking and goal setting, targeted outreach and general communication, technical support to procurers, and intervention on legislation. European Bioplastics welcomes the recommendations and strongly supports the implementation of such, as they are a vital step to help bio-based products to unfold their full potential in terms of replacing fossil carbon with renewable resources, job creation and stimulating rural development in Europe.

Convergence of bio-based standards and labels

The report recognises that commonly accepted standards and labels greatly influence and facilitate the public procurement selection process. The Expert Group therefore recommends to accelerate the convergence and uptake of bio-based and sustainability standards and labels. A number of important and accepted standards already exist or are under development, such as the European standard on bio-based products developed by the CEN Technical Committee CEN/TC 411, which includes requirements and test methods regarding essential elements like the LCA, sustainability, end-of-life options, and bio-based (carbon) content of bio-based products. Yet, according to the Expert Group, the thresholds for the minimum amount of bio-based content as well as the sustainability criteria still need to be defined more clearly. At the same time, the communication of these standards through the development or convergence of accepted and well-recognised labels will also have to be promoted better, and the Expert Group suggests incorporating bio-based criteria into the EU Ecolabel scheme – a recommendation that EUBP supports.

Review and intervention of