In order to meet the European Union’s climate and energy targets for 2030 and reach the objectives of the European Green Deal, the European Commission aims at directing investments towards sustainable projects and activities. This requires a common language and a clear definition of what “sustainable” means. Therefore, the Commission’s Action Plan on Financing Sustainable Growth called for the creation of a common classification system for sustainable economic activities, or an “EU Taxonomy”. The EU Taxonomy provides companies, investors, and policymakers with definitions according to which economic activities can be considered environmentally sustainable. This way, the Commission wants to help companies to make more climate-friendly decisions, mitigate market fragmentation, create security for investors, protect private investors from greenwashing, and shape the focus of investments within the EU.
The Taxonomy Regulation which entered into force on 12 July 2020, establishes six environmental objectives, several of which directly relate to bioplastics. The Regulation requests the Commission to come up with an actual list of environmentally sustainable activities by defining technical screening criteria for each environmental objective through Delegated Acts. The Climate Delegated Act supplementing the Regulation clearly supports “plastics derived wholly or partially from renewable feedstock” as “substantially contributing to climate change mitigation”. Bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics make significant contributions to a carbon neutral Europe by acting as and helping create carbon sinks, all while decreasing Europe’s dependency on finite fossil resources. Bio-based plastics made from renewable resources play a crucial role in closing both the material and the carbon loop. At the same time, they help boost soil fertility by returning the biowaste’s nutrients in the form of high value compost. The EU Taxonomy acknowledges these benefits and therefore lists bio-based plastics as “green investments”.