For quite some time now, the European Commission (EC) is putting a special focus on biodegradable and compostable polymers when assessing the general role of bioplastics. This becomes obvious when looking at the number of related EU studies and reports that had been published in 2020. The last publication in this regard was the European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism’s (SAM) report “Biodegradability of plastics in the open environment” in mid-December of last year. Recently, political decision makers in the Commission seem to increasingly acknowledge the positive role of compostable plastics in putting the circularity model into practice. This is important, as the Commission aims at developing a legal framework for all bioplastics, biodegradable, compostable as well as durable bio-based, throughout 2021. The framework is a fundamental element of the Circular Economy Action Plan included in the European Green Deal. This process coincides with the revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, which includes the Essential Requirements for Packaging and whose proposal is also expected towards the end of this year.
A lot has been discussed and published in the debate over compostable plastics so far. Not everything reflects the current standard of knowledge or is always based on scientific facts. Therefore, it is important that we summarize the key aspects of compostable plastics from time to time: with reference to the European waste hierarchy, industrial compostable plastics can provide added value through organic recycling (i.e. industrial composting and anaerobic digestion) as an additional waste treatment option. In order to ensure that industrial compostable plastics can deliver the optimal contribution to realising a circular economy in Europe, it is important to acknowledge that they are not a general solution, but a specific technology for specific products that can foremost help to efficiently manage the biggest fraction of the municipal waste stream: bio-waste. Industrially compostable plastics certified according to the harmonised European standard EN 13432 for the organic recovery of packaging contribute to efficient waste management and circular preservation of resources. Because they optimize the separate collection of bio-waste and help diverting bio-waste from landfills, incineration, and mechanical recycling into organic recycling. Compostable plastics reduce impurities in the organic waste collection caused by misthrows of conventional, non-biodegrad