In each issue of the Bioplastics Bulletin, we present 5 facts about a member of European Bioplastics. In this issue, Gottfried Krapfenbauer, Product Manager Bioplastics AGRANA, shares some information about the Austrian producer of starch and starch-based bioplastics. 5 facts about AGRANA Starch, Austria As an Austria based, multinational company with over 9000 employees [...]
Dutch researchers join forces to boost PHAs market introduction Invest-NL and Wageningen University & Research are joining forces to accelerate the market introduction of PHAs (polyhydroxyalkanoates). Wageningen Food & Biobased Research has been conducting technological research for 30 years into the production and usage possibilities of PHAs for various applications. They are currently participating [...]
In modern agriculture you can find a great number of plastic products that help improving the efficiency and, thus, the yield of the cultivated product. However, due to certain conditions that accompany many agricultural procedures, a not-negligible share of plastic remains in the soil. Especially in areas of intensive agriculture, significant amounts of microplastic [...]
Constance Ißbrücker, Head of Environmental Affairs at European Bioplastics e.V. The EU Plastics Strategy presented a vision where innovative materials and alternative feedstocks would ultimately replace fossil resources. In this context, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) was tasked in 2018 by the European Commission to elaborate an appropriate life cycle assessment (LCA)-based method to evaluate the potential environmental [...]
EUBPConf2021: multi stakeholder panel discussion on bioplastics and EU policy After last year’s 100 percent virtual format, the European Bioplastics Conference was finally able to re-open its gates in Berlin and welcomed around 140 participants. The other half of the overall 320 participants attended online. During the different conference sessions and in [...]
Oona Korhonen, Project Manager at Measurlabs, specialized in biomass Read below a guest article by Oona Korhonen from Measurlabs. How well do you know the amount of bio-based content in the raw materials you use? Have you measured it yourself? There are two big reasons to do so. Firstly, as fossil-based materials [...]
European bioeconomy robust as bio-based industry turnover jumps to 780 billion EUR The bio-based industries continue their ascent marking a total contribution of 780 billion EUR, a notable increase of 30 billion EUR (+ 4%) compared to 2017. This represents a more than 20% increase compared to 2008 which is the earliest data taken [...]
Berlin, 14 December 2021 – Last week the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) published a report assessing the sustainability of agricultural plastic products[1] recommending the replacement of non-biodegradable, conventional polymers with biodegradable, bio-based polymers. “We welcome this recognition of the environmental benefits of these bioplastic products”, commented François de Bie, [...]
Berlin, 1 December 2021 – European Bioplastics presented today at the 16th EUBP Conference a very positive outlook for the global bioplastics industry. Production is set to more than triple over the next five years according to market data which was compiled in cooperation with the nova-Institute (Hürth, Germany). “The importance of a more than 200 percent growth rate within the next five years cannot be overstated. Before 2026, the share of bioplastics in the total global production of plastics will pass the two [...]
Berlin, 30 November 2021 – In June, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (EC) published its methodology for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) comparing the environmental impact of fossil-based to bio-based feedstocks for plastics production. “Together with other bio-based industries, we support LCAs as a valuable instrument to measure environmental sustainability. Unfortunately, the approach of the JRC in this study lacks important elements that are crucial for a fair, comparative assessment of bio-based and fossil-based plastics. As a result, it clearly favours conventional plastics made from fossil resources”, comments Hasso von Pogrell, Managing Director of European Bioplastics (EUBP). Over the past [...]
