A new publication by the Renewable Carbon Initiative challenges the commonly held belief that using food and feed crops for bio-based materials is detrimental to food security. Against the backdrop of a global hunger crisis, the paper argues that the biomass debate is flawed, subjective, and lacks sufficient evidence. It suggests that other factors [...]
Traditional polymer manufacturing processes heavily rely on fossil fuels as feedstock, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and the depletion of finite resources. The utilisation of biomass in the plastics sector has evolved to offer sustainable alternatives to conventional fossil-based materials. By leveraging biogenic feedstock, the industry can reduce its environmental impact and promote circularity. [...]
Open the document To increase the amount of plastics based on renewable resources on the market and decrease dependence on depletable feedstocks, such as crude oil, the mass balance approach is a complementary step that can be necessary for a fossil-free future. In line with ISO 22095, the mass balance approach is a [...]
Open the document The bioeconomy holds the potential to provide innovative biobased materials and packaging solutions to ensure the sustainability and competitiveness of the EU packaging sector while decoupling economic growth from the use of fossil-based resources. Despite the ambitious climate neutrality target declared in the Green Deal, the Commission’s proposal for a [...]
Open the document Biobased products are products wholly or partly derived from renewable materials of biological origin (i.e. from plants, crops, trees, algae and biological waste). These products are used in a wide range of applications, such as energy, textile, plastics, pharmaceuticals, hygiene, food and many more. Ideally, biobased products are circular by [...]
Open the document Bioplastics are a broad family of materials that are either biobased, biodegradable, or both. The term “biobased” describes the basis of a material being fully or partly derived from biomass. The term “biodegradable” refers to the inherent property of a material that, with the help of naturally occurring microorganisms such [...]
On 23 and 24 January, the BIOMAC held its project meeting which marked the completion of the first half of this project. The 35 project partners discussed the progress made in achieving the project milestones as well as the next steps for 2023. A central part of the meeting was the selection of five [...]
The “European Sustainable BIO-based nanomaterials Community” (BIOMAC), a Horizon 2020 funded project, launched an open call for SMEs, large companies, research and development organisations working in the field of nano-enabled bio-based material (NBM) technologies and solutions. The official launch started with the online presentation of the Open Call on the BIOMAC´s website on December [...]
Futerro to build PLA biorefinery in Normandy Belgian bioplastics manufacturer Futerro has announced plans to establish Europe's first vertically integrated biorefinery in Normandy, France for the production and recycling of polylactic acid, or PLA. The company already operates a PLA plant in China, which went into operation in October 2020. That first plant has a [...]
Erik Pras, Global Director Sales & Marketing at BIOTEC In each issue of the European Bioplastics Newsletter, we present 5 facts about a member of European Bioplastics. In this issue, Erik Pras, Global Director Sales & Marketing at BIOTEC, shares some interesting insights on his company. 5 facts about: BIOTEC, Germany BIOTEC [...]
