From 2023 onwards, separate collection of bio-waste will be mandatory across Europe in order to increase the overall amounts of separately collected waste and to help meet the ambitious recycling targets set out in the new EU waste rules. Yet, the separate waste collection systems (including for bio-waste) still vary widely among the 28 [...]
A report from bioeconomy consultants NNFCC has found that a paradigm shift from oil-based plastic to plastics produced from renewable materials and designed to be recyclable or biodegradable, offers the potential to address the issues with plastics while retaining its many benefits. Adrian Higson, Lead Consultant Bio-based Products at NNFCC said in an interview: [...]
On 16 January 2018, the European Commission published its Communication ‘A European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy’. According to the Commission, this proposal is an ambitious step towards making the European plastics system more resource-efficient and drive the change from a linear to a circular system. Bioplastics provide crucial impulses for innovation [...]
In February 2018, the district of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, located in a historic part of Barcelona, introduced a door-to-door separate waste collection system as part of the Zero Waste Strategy of the municipality. The project aims to minimise the quantity of waste sent to landfill and, more importantly, to involve citizens in order to make [...]
The Netherlands to ban oxo-degradable plastics: After France and Spain implemented actions in 2017 to limit the production, distribution, sale, provision and utilization of packaging or bags made from oxo-degradable plastics – conventional plastics that falsely claim to biodegrade – the Netherlands now, too, announced plans for a complete ban of oxo-degradable plastics. "A [...]
Revised legislative package on waste acknowledges that bioplastics play a key role in achieving EU recycling goals Berlin, 28 February 2018 – The provisional agreements reached by the European Council and Parliament on the EU waste legislative package published by the Commission in 2015, recognise the benefits of bioplastics. The new legislation acknowledges that [...]
The European Commission has recommended EU-wide measures be taken against so-called ‘oxo-degradable‘ plastics. In a report published earlier this month, the Commission said that "a process to restrict the use of oxo-plastics in the EU will be started". European Bioplastics (EUBP), the association of the bioplastics industry in Europe, strongly welcomes this clear commitment [...]
Jean-Marc Nony, Sustainable Development Director, SPHERE In each issue of the Bioplastics Bulletin, we present 5 facts about a member of European Bioplastics. This month, Jean-Marc Nony, Sustainable Development Director at SPHERE, shares some information on the French family group and leading European manufacturer of household packaging and bioplastic bags. 5 facts [...]
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation announced the winners of its $1 million Circular Materials Challenge at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The winners will join a 12-month accelerator programme working with experts to make their innovations marketable at scale. Among the winners are a number of innovative biopolymers and applications for bioplastics, including EUBP [...]
Companies in the food sector are increasingly looking for alternatives to conventional plastic packaging to reduce their CO2 footprint and are switching to packaging solutions made from renewable raw materials. A team at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands is studying the perceptions of bio-based packaging among consumers and aims to give manufacturers [...]
