Open the document Biodegradables are sortable and suitable for material recycling streams. Efficient sorting of all plastics is essential for high quality recycling outputs. Biodegradable plastics have the potential to play a significant role in advancing a circular economy by addressing several environmental challenges. They can help mitigate plastic waste, promote sustainable resource utilisation, enhance [...]
Open the document Dear President von der Leyen, We are writing to express our sincere congratulations to the new College of Commissioners for the legislative term 2024-2029. We warmly welcome the clarity and determination with which you have outlined the political guidelines of the European Commission. At such a complex time in history, [...]
Today, the Commission has presented the Competitiveness Compass, the first major initiative of this mandate providing a strategic and clear framework to steer the Commission's work. The Compass sets a path for Europe to become the place where future technologies, services, and clean products are invented, manufactured, and put on the market, while being [...]
The fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) in Busan, South Korea, aimed to finalise a legally binding Global Plastics Treaty but ended without consensus. Due to major divergences around key elements of the future Treaty, the session has been extended to INC-5.2, with the date and location still to be determined. Key [...]
The PRESERVE Project, an innovative Horizon 2020 initiative, hosted its final event as a side gathering at the European Bioplastics Conference on 12 December. This milestone event highlighted the project’s groundbreaking achievements, avant-garde breakthroughs, and a forward-looking innovation roadmap for the future of sustainable packaging. The following resources have been made available after the [...]
Open the document Continuous growth: global production capacities of bioplastics 2024-2029 Bioplastics currently represent roughly half a percent of the almost 414 million tonnes* of plastics produced annually. Overall global plastics production continues to rise steadily. This development is driven by rising demand combined with the emergence of ever more sophisticated applications and [...]
Open the document As the bioplastics market grows*, it is essential to address the issue of recycling biodegradable bioplastics and to study their most effective recycling pathways, to be able to manage bioplastic products at their end of life. Bioplastic waste does not yet constitute a relevant amount of the total plastic waste [...]
Open the document Millions of tonnes of biowaste, particularly urban organic food waste, inundate European waste management systems yearly. However, approximately 60% of this resource currently finds its way to incineration or landfills, resulting in significant environmental and economic losses. At the workshop held on 16 October 2024 at European Bioplastics in Brussels, [...]
Open the document Bioplastics should be complementary tools to help end plastic pollution. The fifth session of the intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC-5) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including the marine environment, will be held in Busan, Republic of Korea, from 25 November to 1 December 2024. To address [...]
The European Union recently included soil-biodegradable mulch films, coating agents and water retention polymers in the Fertilising Products Regulation (FPR) 1009/2019. The strict biodegradability criteria outlined in the Delegated Acts underlines the important biodegradability standards that will ensure these products are environmentally safe and contribute to healthier soils. The inclusion paved the way for further [...]
