Open the document Learn about bioplastics and find the answers to frequently asked questions on: European Bioplastics End-of-life Feedstock General questions Human health Market Material, properties and technology Political framework Standardisation, certification, labelling Sustainability
Open the document Plastics are an integral part of our modern life. They play an essential role in providing, protecting, and delivering high-quality products in pretty much every market segment to consumers around the world. Today, there is a bioplastic alternative for almost every conventional plastic material and corresponding application. Bioplastics – plastics [...]
Open the document Material types, terminology, and labels – an introduction
Open the document The overarching problem of climate change and the future shortage of fossil resources has accelerated the search for better concepts for plastics packaging. Approaches to reuse and recycle plastics in closed loops need to be developed, while making an efficient use of resources at all times. With the corresponding demands [...]
Open the document Biodegradable and compostable products that are certified according to the harmonized European standard EN 13432 (or EN 14995) are suitable for organic recycling and will completely biodegrade in an industrial composting plant, with no adverse effects on the process or on the final product (compost). These materials are working well [...]
Open the document Bioplastics are not one single material but a large family of plastic materials, most of them very new innovative materials, with different properties and functionalities. Such grade of variety and complexity is not always easy to explain. In terms of the circular economy, the standards mentioned in this paper offer [...]
Open the document Chemical recycling has gained increased attention as a promising recovery technology, especially for post-consumer plastic waste. It is seen as a complementary solution to mechanical recycling, being better suited for difficult to recycle plastics like multi-layer solutions or heavily contaminated plastics. Yet, its availability at commercial scale is currently still [...]
Open the document The Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste (PPWD) was first issued in 1994. Its main purpose was to increase the recovery rate of packaging waste and to cut disposal (landfilling). Apart from mechanical recycling also biological (organic) recycling was defined, and a specific standard for identifying "packaging recoverable by means [...]
Open the document Mechanical Recycling is currently the dominant recycling technique for post-consumer plastic packaging waste. Sorting and reprocessing technologies are available in most EU Member States with varying levels of recycling quotas. EU waste legislation requires binding recycling targets in the future. Recycling biobased plastics increases the fossil carbon reduction potential by [...]
Open the document Anaerobic digestion is a process in which organic matter is degraded by a microbial population of bacteria in the absence of oxygen. This process produces methane and carbon dioxide (biogas) and compost . During the process, no heat is being released. The resulting biogas can be treated in a Combined Heat [...]
