Author: Maria Negut, Head of EU Affairs at European Bioplastics e.V. The long-awaited EC proposal for Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) was finally published on 30 March 2022, building upon the “Ecodesign Directive”, which currently only covers energy-related products. Part of the Sustainable Products Initiative (SPI), the proposal for ecodesign is [...]
In each issue of the European Bioplastics Newsletter, we present 5 facts about a member of European Bioplastics. In this issue, Sara Di Berardino, Sustainability Manager at Bisio Progetti, shares some interesting insights on her company. 5 facts about Bisio Progetti, Italy Bisio Progetti was founded in 1989 to develop, manufacture, and market high [...]
European Bioplastics (EUBP) successfully kicked-off the new event series “EUBP Talk”, which aims to provide greater insights into the latest developments in the bioplastics industry and into relevant EU policy initiatives by bringing together policy makers, R&D experts, and industry leaders to talk about how bioplastics can contribute to tackling some of the major [...]
Swell idea: Bioplastic surf boards gain traction In France, a company is using 3D printing and bio-based materials to bring the surf community a more sustainable experience. Wyve, based in the Basque beach area, is replacing the polystyrene and EPS foam “blanks” that make traditional surfboards buoyant with inner hexagons that trap air. The [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Promateris’ business to focus on compostable packaging The Romanian industrial group Promateris, leader in the Central Eastern Europe region in the production of compostable and biodegradable packaging, has started a division process in its company. The aim is to transfer assets that are unrelated to the core activity to a new entity, Obor Development [...]
Read in the following a guest contribution by BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE (BPE) introducing the European research project coordinated by the Hamburg University of Applied Science. For the EU Horizon 2020-funded project BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE “bio” is indeed the way forward. With 22 partners from 13 countries, the project represents both, the research and the industry sector. [...]
BIOnTop’s research teams are pursuing various strategies to optimise biopolymers with a specific focus on protein-based coatings. European Bioplastics supports the BIOnTop project as consortium partner. Most sensitive foods are packaged in multi-layer composite films to ensure sufficient flavour, water vapor, and oxygen barriers to maintain products’ quality and increase its shelf life. However, most of these composite [...]
Constance Ißbrücker, Head of Environmental Affairs at European Bioplastics e.V. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has evolved to be the preferred tool to assess the environmental sustainability of certain products and materials. Recently it has also been used with great enthusiasm to compare bio-based with fossil-based plastics. It seems to be an easy instrument to draw [...]
