Research and development at European level
– driver for an innovative and dynamic industry

The biopolymer and bioplastics industry is a key driver of innovation in the bid to transform Europes economy into a more sustainable, circular, and resource-efficient bioeconomy. Public and private schemes are funding the research and development efforts that are necessary to enhance our knowledge of tomorrows sustainable solutions, improve our ability to produce more efficiently and consume more sustainably, and enable us to effect tangible change.

Cooperation as the key to success

In Europe, between 2007 and 2020, more than 130 projects of public or joint public and private research projects have been performed in the area of bioplastics in different EU programs, such as Horizon 2020 (H2020), BioBased Industries Joint-Undertaking (BBI-JU) or EU-LIFE.

Industrial participation in these projects amounting to almost 134 million Euro underlines this success and the unique bundling of public and private research in the field of the biobased economy in Europe.

The investigated topics cover the complete life cycle of biobased and biodegradable plastics, such as material and application development, recycling, circularity, and supplementary research on sustainability and communication.

The succeeding research frameworks Horizon Europe (including European Innovation Council EIC) and Circular Biobased Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) are set up even to even expand this success story.

We are committed to research…

European Bioplastics (EUBP) is committed to supporting research and innovation efforts and currently serves on the Advisory Boards of several on-going EU and national research projects. As an association, we also encourage our member organisations to join in on selected programmes that are pushing innovation in fields that are related to their business or research focus and provide opportunities for the commercialisation of research outcomes. Our current project activities in H2020 and BBI-JU include:

PRESERVE

PRESERVE will develop high performance sustainable biobased packaging and tailor its end of life for upcycled secondary use. European Biopastics’ focus is on leading communication and dissemination and monitoring and advancing of existing standards.
Status  Active 
Homepage https://www.preserve-h2020.eu/
Budget Nearly 8 million Euro 
Duration January 2021 December 2024
(4 years)
 
Project title High performance sustainable biobased packaging with tailored end of life and upcycled secondary use 
Coordinator IRIS (Spain) 
Consortium 26 partners from 10 countries 
Grant Agreement 952983 
Funding body  Horizon 2020
BIOMAC is an Open Innovation Test Bed of several pilot plants across Europe boosting production of innovative biobased and nanomaterial platform chemicals, in which European Bioplastics acts as support for the Single-Entry-Point, monitors compliance and regulatory framework, and supports the project’s communication and dissemination.
Status  Active 
Homepage https://www.biomac-oitb.eu/
Budget 16.7 million Euro 
Duration January 2021 December 2024
(4 years)
 
Project title European Sustainable BIObased nanoMAterials Community 
Coordinator Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece) 
Consortium 34 partners from 12 countries 
Grant Agreement 952941 
Funding body  Horizon 2020
BioSupPack intends to demonstrate the production and enzymatic recycling of environmentally safe, superior and versatile PHA-based rigid packaging solutions. European Bioplastics supports the consortium in its communication and dissemination tasks.
Status  Active 
Homepage https://biosuppack.eu/
Budget 8.8 million Euro 
Duration June 2021 – November 2024 
(3.5 years)
 
Project title Demonstrative process for the production and enzymatic recycling of environmentally safe, superior and versatile PHA-based rigid packaging solutions by plasma integration in the value chain 
Coordinator AIMPLAS (Spain) 
Consortium 17 partners from 8 countries 
Grant Agreement 101023685
Funding body  Horizon 2020, BBI-JU
Within BIOnTop, new bio-copolymers, compounds, biocomposites and coatings formulation will be developed for (1) recyclable monomaterial / multilayer for packaging of fruits & vegetables and dairy & personal care products, (2) organically recyclable coated woven fabrics and nets for tea bags and fruits & vegetable nets, and (3) reusable and recycable coated woven fabrics for food wraps and secondary raw material packaging for extruded blown bags. European Bioplastics is BIOnTop’s communication and dissemination manager and also supports the consortium with its standardisation and regulatory expertise.
Status  Active 
Homepage https://biontop.eu/
Budget 5.4 million Euro 
Duration June 2019 May 2023 
(4 years
)
 
Project title Novel packaging films and textiles with tailored end of life and performance based on biobased copolymers and coatings 
Coordinator AIMPLAS (Spain) 
Consortium 17 partners from 8 countries 
Grant Agreement 837761 
Funding body  Horizon 2020, BBI-JU

… and we also provide a platform for your projects! 

Are you part of a research network, or would you like to present your project at our annual conference? In order to strengthen the link between academia and industry, at our annual European Bioplastics Conference we regularly offer an opportunity for research projects to present their findings to a highly targeted and relevant audience, and we disseminate project-based bioplastic innovation achievements across our network on a regular basis. 

Find out more

Do you have an innovative idea? 

European Bioplastics is proud to be part of an international network to successfully address the global and EU-wide challenges related to more sustainable polymer materials and to support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals together with our partners. If you would like to find out more about our project-based activities, or if you would like to partner up with European Bioplastics or its members in research project initiatives, do not hesitate to contact us or complete and return this form.