At the beginning of this year, the European Commission published its EU Roadmap for a Strategy on Plastics in a Circular Economy. Consultations and discussions around some of the most important issues to be covered by the Strategy on Plastics have already started, showing the complexity of the initiative as well as the need [...]
DuPont wins 2017 European Company of the Year Award for bio-based materials: DuPont Industrial Biosciences (DuPont) has been awarded the 2017 European Company of the Year Award for bio-based materials, reflecting the company’s position “at the vanguard of innovation, developing cutting-edge, bio-based materials that improve customers' lives and meet market needs for high-performing, sustainable [...]
The EU bioeconomy makes up an important part of the total economy in the EU. In 2014, it employed around 18.6 million people and generated approximately EUR 2.2 trillion. This means that the bioeconomy represents around 9% of all sectors of the economy with regards to employment as well as to turnover. These are [...]
Earlier this month, Germany’s Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament, approved a new packaging law (Verpackungsgesetz) aimed at boosting recycling of packaging waste. It also stipulates that the systems collecting the waste fees are obliged to create incentives that encourage the use of recycled material or material from renewable sources for the production of [...]
Bio-based plastics can be mechanically recycled just like conventional plastics and biodegradable plastics are not a solution to the plastic soup in the oceans. These are two key findings in the report ‘Biobased and biodegradable plastics – Facts and Figures’, released by Wageningen Food & Biobased Research. The report takes stock of scientific knowledge on [...]
Synvina receives interim approval for bio-based PEF recyclability: Amsterdam-based Synvina CV has received interim approval from the European PET bottle platform (EPBP) for the recyclability of its bio-based polyethylenefuranoate (PEF) materials in the European bottle recycling market. The BASF-Avantium joint venture, which was set up in October last year, will produce bio-based furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) [...]
As set out in the amemdment of the EU Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste from 2015, the European Commission was tasked to assess the impacts of so-called “oxo-degradable” plastics on the environment and propose “a set of measures to limit their consumption or to reduce any harmful impacts“. To inform the Commission’s decision [...]
Earlier this month, the European Parliament plenary voted on the waste legislation proposal as part of the EU Circular Economy Package. With their vote, the Members of Parliament send a clear signal that reuse and recycling remain of paramount priority in the pursuit of an EU circular economy while at the same time strengthening [...]
Danone and Nestlé Waters, the world’s two largest bottled water companies, have joined forces with Origin Materials, a start-up based in Sacramento, California, to form the NaturALL Bottle Alliance. Together, the three partners aim to develop and launch at commercial scale a PET plastic bottle made from 100 percent bio-based renewable material. The project [...]
Danimer Scientific and PepsiCo to Collaborate on Biodegradable Resins: Biotechnology leader Danimer Scientific and global food and beverage company PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) have announced an agreement that includes development of Danimer Scientifics’ biodegradable film resins to meet the sustainable flexible packaging requirements of PepsiCo’s global food and beverage business. The agreement includes the development [...]