Activity Report - July/August 2023

Please find below an overview of activities carried out by European Bioplastics throughout July and August 2023.

Regulatory Affairs (WG REGA)

The WG REGA met on 27 July to discuss the latest EU policy developments, with a focus on the Commission’s proposal for a revised Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). The Taskforce PPWR (TF PPWR) met both on 13 July and 31 August to discuss the legislative evolutions in detail.

The work on the PPWR file has continued until the last day before the Parliamentary Summer break and picked right back up at the end of August. Notwithstanding agreement among all political groups in the European Parliament to finalise the interinstitutional negotiations by 2023 (under Spanish Presidency) or, at the latest, by Q1/2024 (under Belgian Presidency), the vote on the ENVI PPWR report has been moved by one month and will take place 23-24 October 2023. Accordingly, the plenary vote on the file will also be postponed and should be held during the Parliament plenary session scheduled for the week of 20 November. Meanwhile, the IMCO, ITRE and AGRI Committees adopted at the end of July their opinions on the file.

At the Council level, the last Environmental Working Party was organised on 14 July. The Spanish Presidency prepared a steering note for this session. Interesting for EUBP are the proposed four alternative options to include biobased content in Article 7 of PPWR.

Discussions within the TF and REGA focussed on the progress in ENVI and the other Committees, in the Council and its Environmental Working Party moved under Spanish Presidency, with a clear focus on Articles 7 and 8 of the PPWR. On Article 7 (biobased content), EUBP participated in multiple meetings with Plastics Europe and Renewable Carbon Initiative with the aim of finding a common position. Until now, a common position has not been found, but the three associations will stay in close contact on Article 7 and more broadly on the PPWR file. As home composting entered in the proposals on Article 8, EUBP developed a note explaining the difference between home composting and industrial composting, which was shared with both members of the Environmental WP and the ENVI Committee.

Following the JRC stakeholder meeting on 29 June and EUBP’s ad hoc meeting (10 July) with the goal of coming up with a sector strategy, EUBP provided feedback to the JRC public consultation on 21 July. EUBP answered the main open questions and spreadsheets of the material categories (1) paper cardboard, (2) rigid plastic and (3) flexible plastic with the help of input from several members.

The policy team of EUBP is looking to build more alliances with stakeholders in our field. New during Summer was for example the contact with Tea & Herbal Infusions Europe (THIE) on Article 8 of the PPWR. Operational relations are being set up with other (trade) associations, and the policy team is participating in lots of events in the EU Bubble to represent and make EUBP more known.

The REGA group was informed of the response letter EUBP received from Astrid Bartels (Head of Unit C.1 at DG GROW) answering to EUBP’s Chairperson's letter addressing industry concerns on a strong and consistent inclusion of biobased feedstock in EU taxonomy and other regulatory developments.

EUBP has worked with its members on a possible paper on natural and innovative polymers. Work is still ongoing as of now.

Finally, EUBP provided both input to the INC Secretariat in preparation for the third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (13-19 November, Nairobi) on 11 August following an ad hoc meeting at EUBP’s Brussels office on 19 July and feedback to the Commission’s call for feedback on the Green Claims Directive.

The next meeting of the TF PPWR will be held on 14 September and the next REGA meeting on Tuesday 19 September.

For further detailed information on the work of the WG Regulatory Affairs, please refer to the slides and minutes of the last meeting or contact Roberto Ferrigno (ferrigno@european-bioplastics.org) or Julie Pieters (pieters@european-bioplastics.org).

EUBA - European Bioeconomy Alliance

The European Bioeconomy Alliance (EUBA) Operational group has met on 22 August to discuss key policy issues and to coordinate and agree on activities.

The Alliance reported on a previous meeting with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The members who attended the meeting said it was informative and constructive, with IUCN’s study offering interesting perspectives on bioeconomy, but noted that IUCN still does not always align with EUBA on bioenergy and land use pressure. It was agreed that the dialogue should continue.

On the Taxonomy file, EUBP shared with the Alliance that we received an answer from the European Commission (DG GROW) to our letter and EUBP emphasised that the dialogue had been positive. EUBP will circulate the reply from the European Commission for member information.

The EUBA manifesto draft has been shared with members for edits and comments and it has been discussed in the meeting. Another round of comments will take place until 15 September in an attempt to obtain a final draft.

For further information on EUBP’s engagement within the European Bioeconomy Alliance, please contact Julie Pieters (pieters@european-bioplastics.org)

Environmental Affairs

EUBP is currently restructuring the work of the Environmental Affairs team and the respective Product Groups and Task Forces. After presenting the new structure at the next board meeting in September, the members are invited to join the new WG and TFs in a combined PG meeting on 26 September.

EUBP has been working on an update of the Position Paper on End-of-Life options for biobased plastics within the PG Biobased TF2 (End-of-life) and, once the new TF structures are set up, the work will be continued.

EUBP and the PG Biodegradables Chairs had been working on the Position Paper on AD. It was decided that before setting up a TF on this topic, EUBP together with the Chairs needs to conduct some research and outreach to relevant stakeholders to gain a better understanding on the status quo and the future of AD technologies and landscape. Two meetings with experts are scheduled for early September.

TF AGRI met on 23 July. The group discussed how the EUBP policy team could support the outreach regarding the Fertilising Products Regulation (FPR). Further steps will be discussed in the next meeting on 5 September.

The group also picked up the work on the Q&A on soil-biodegradable mulch films. It is planned to be finalised in September.

For more information, please contact Marike Fronk (fronk@european-bioplastics.org) or Hasso von Pogrell (pogrell@european-bioplastics.org).

Working Group Standardisation

CEN/TC 411 WG 4 met again virtually on 12 July to further discuss the draft standard with additional guidelines for comparative LCA of biobased and fossil-based products. The draft had been restructured and the most recent comments were discussed.

For more information on standards for biobased, biodegradable, and compostable plastics, current standardisation processes, and certification of bioplastics, please contact Hasso von Pogrell (pogrell@european-bioplastics.org).

Communications

EUBP published several news articles to promote EUBP’s publications and events. Those will be compiled in a newsletter, which will be distributed at the beginning of September.

EUBP has been meeting with POLITICO for a potential paid campaign ahead of the 2024 elections. More information will be shared in the next WG Comms meeting scheduled on 5 September at 3:30pm CET.

Journalists have been invited to the 30-year anniversary of EUBP, and the invitations for EBC23 will be sent in September.

The Comms team secured a media partnership with Packaging Europe for EBC23. As part of this partnership, EUBP and Packaging Europe will share visibility online and during their events: Sustainable Packaging Summit and EUBP’s EBC23. Additionally, our Managing Director, Hasso von Pogrell, will be a panellist at the Sustainable Packaging Summit (13-14 November, Amsterdam).

The Comms team followed Euractiv event How can a shift to a circular economy in the EU contribute to a climate-neutral Europe? on 4 July.

After investigating, the Comms team acquired additional press tools as well as social media tools to improve the outreach with journalists and the social media community in Europe. The team will undergo training in September, and the new organisation will be effective in the second part of 2023.

The Comms team is taking the lead on drafting answers for a Q&A of most common asked questions in the EU Bubble. The Secretariat has finished drafting the answers, this Q&A will be shared with the members of WG Comms for comments.

The Comms team secured an interview with PLASTICS as part of the 2023 Bioplastics Week, a social media campaign, and are working on finalising the elements for both the interview and the social media campaign.

Several members reached out to EUBP to publish content, the Comms team worked with members to figure out the best way to do so, be it in the newsletter or in the form of guest blogs.

The annual market data study conducted with Nova Institute and scheduled for December 2023 will this year be published with additional data coming up this autumn, in partnership with Plastics Europe. EUBP met online with all stakeholders to clarify the data set used for this year’s report, and the communication’s strategy for the release of the report.

For more information or questions concerning the communications activities of EUBP, please contact our new EUBP Communications Manager Marion Thérage (therage@european-bioplastics.org).

Seedling Logo

The updated Certification Scheme was published at the beginning of July together with a new version of the logo (including “industrially compostable”). The corresponding usage guidelines were updated accordingly, with suggestions to use extended improved messaging around the logo.

The Advisory Board of the Seedling Scheme met on 7 July. The group discussed the transition phase of the new Seedling Certification Scheme. The certifiers volunteered to organise upcoming meetings due to staff shortages at EUBP.

The next meeting of the Advisory Board of the Seedling Scheme (ACS) is scheduled for 6 October.

For more information on the Seedling Logo or the Certification Scheme, please contact Marike Fronk (fronk@european-bioplastics.org) or Hasso von Pogrell (mailto:pogrell@european-bioplastics.org).

Event Management

In July and August, the organisation of the EBC 23 progressed. Additional sponsors have been acquired. An overview of the available sponsoring opportunities can be found here.

The call for papers has been closed on 30 June 2023, around 60 abstracts have been received and reviewed with the advisory board. The best abstracts have been defined and a preliminary programme has been written. Next meeting with the advisory board will be early September to finalise the programme.

A new online event platform has been signed, and Events will start working on the website in September.

The 30 years EUBP anniversary in September will take place at the Representation of North Rhine-Westfalia on 20 September. The project team has planned the programme for the event, catering has been selected, and the technical planning has been agreed with the location.

For more information or questions concerning the annual conference and further EUBP events, please contact Denise Valdix (valdix@european-bioplastics.org or conference@european-bioplastics.org).

Speaking opportunities

• Managing Director, Hasso von Pogrell, will be a panellist during the Sustainable Packaging Summit (13-14 November, Amsterdam).

Projects

European Bioplastics is currently a consortium partner in four EU funded projects: two projects funded by the Horizon 2020 Programme and two projects funded by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU). Moreover, EUBP participates in the Austrian-funded project, NETmicroplastic, which will run until October 2025. EUBP is also involved as Advisory Board Member in several EU and national funded research projects.

Some of the most important achievements and preliminary results of these projects will be presented at the Sustainable Packaging Summit in Amsterdam on the 14 and 15 November.

European sustainable biobased nanomaterials Community (BIOMAC)
The goal of BIOMAC Is to establish a collaborative ecosystem where technologies and solutions utilising nano-enabled and/or biobased materials (NBMs) across several test beds can be developed up to TRL 4-5 and later upscaled and prepared for market applications, up to TRL 7. Currently, BIOMAC is focusing on four testbeds: Food Packaging, Construction, Automotive and Printed Electronics. Additional testbeds will be added soon to the consortium through an open call.

The BIOMAC Open Call – of which the main aim is to add five new test cases to the BIOMAC project - closed on 15 June 2023. The BIOMAC consortium is currently evaluating the proposals. The selected test cases will be implemented by the BIOMAC consortium from September 2023 until December 2024.

EUBP, in the framework of its tasks as partner responsible for standardisation, has initiated liaison activities with standardisation bodies (DIN) and will provide a specific training on Standardisation on the 4th of September to all consortium partners on the topic, to support them in their own liaison activities with national and European and International standardisation bodies, and to inform them about the ongoing request for BIOMAC to liaise with CEN as an EU R&I project.

Click here to find out more about the BIOMAC goals and activities.

High performance sustainable bio-based packaging with tailored end of life and upcycled secondary use (PRESERVE)
EUBP is currently organising and supporting several upcoming events:

On 19 September, Albstadt Sigmaringen University will organise an internal online Knowledge Transfer Workshop, to allow for the exchange of knowledge amongst partners.

On 19 October, project coordinator IRIS, supported by EUBP is organising an online Workshop on the app they are developing within PRESERVE – a Decision Support System to support stakeholders in choosing the best upcycling route for a material. Sign up here for the event: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/preserve-workshop-designing-a-decision-support-system-dss-tickets-705275366607?keep_tld=1

EUBP, as partner responsible for Policy and Standardisation will also organise an internal Training on Standardisation at the beginning of November.

Lastly, PRESERVE will organise a Workshop on preliminary results and focused on a Roadmap 2030 for sustainable Packaging back to back to the EUBP Conference on 11 December. Save the Date.

Click here to find out more about the PRESERVE goals and activities.

Demonstrative process for the production and enzymatic recycling of environmentally safe, superior and versatile PHA-based rigid packaging solutions by plasma integration in the value chain (BioSupPack)
The project has been put on hold by the agency of the European Commission but will resume activities in September. The project consortium will meet on 26 September in Valencia to discuss its restart and planned the upcoming activities.

Click here to find out more about BioSupPack goals and activities.

NETmicroplastic
The project is funded by the Lower Austria research ministry to foster collaboration between 11 core network partners from four European countries, mainly from Austria, but also Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. The network is currently composed of policymakers, opinion leaders, the agrochemical industry, technology providers, industry and farmer associations, the educational sector, and of course, scientists. NETmicroplastic aim is to tackle multiple facets of microplastic in soil. The project is coordinated by the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT). EUBP supports the project with mapping activities, stakeholders, strategies, policies, and dissemination.

NETmicroplastic specifically focuses on fruit and wine growing and on composting and on finding ways of reducing the use of plastic products in vineyards and orchards without compromising product quality and performance. If interested in joining the NETmicroplastic network, it is possible to sign up for several activities here.

Click here to find out more about the NETmicroplastic project.

New project proposals for research and innovation
EUBP is parallelly involved in the preparation of several project proposals for Horizon Europe and the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU). We are specifically interested in joining new calls related to the development of new biobased polymers and co-polymers, but also on pre-normative activities on biobased materials and on novel packaging solutions. EUBP is happy to support EUBP members in connecting to emerging consortia, but also in taking an active role in the consortia for supporting their engagement with EUBP members, industrial players and policymakers.

For more information or requests concerning EUBP’s involvement in EU-funded projects, please contact Chiara Bearzotti and Estela López-Hermoso (euprojects@european-bioplastics.org).

Planned activities

Regulatory Affairs

• Continue strategic outreach to Parliament and Council regarding PPWR proposal
• Participation in the DG GROW Workshop on the role of standards in accelerating the uptake of biobased materials and products (29 September, Brussels)
• Attending the Workshop on “How to implement the PPWR on the ground? Reducing waste generation concerns everyone. Everybody counts” organised by the Permanent Representations of Slovakia, Austria, and the Czech Republic to the EU (21 September, Brussels)
• Further prepare for the Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (UNEP INC-3) that will be held in Nairobi in November 2023
• Continue EUBA leadership on the PPWR-file
• Next TF PPWR meeting on 14 September and next REGA meeting on 19 September
  

Communications

• Update EUBP publications
• Engage with Brussels press and trade associations
• Next WG Comms meeting on 5 September

Environmental Affairs

• TF Agri meeting on 5 September
• Combined PG meeting on 26 September
• Set-up of new TFs tbd and scheduled

Standardisation

• Monitor revision process EN 13432 and activities in relevant WGs of CEN/TCs 249 and 411
  

Seedling Logo

• Next ACS Meeting on 6 October

EU Projects

• European Bioeconomy University Scientific Forum, 6-8 September 2023, Vienna.
• PRESERVE Knowledge Transfer Workshop, 20 September 2023, online.
• PRESERVE Decision Support system Webinar, October 2023, online.
• PRESERVE Workshop Roadmap to 2030, 11 December 2023, Berlin.
• BioSupPack Breakfast Workshop on The next challenge in packaging: How to choose between different bio-based polymers? How can Life Cycle Assessments be used to evaluate their ecological sustainability?, 13 December, Berlin.

EUBP events

• 20 September: 30-year anniversary (RSVP to events@european-bioplastics.org)
• 12/13 December: EBC 23 (https://www.european-bioplastics.org/events/ebc/)
• 14 December EUBP Members Meeting
  

If you have any suggestions regarding the content and/or format of our monthly report, please do not hesitate to share them with us.  

This email is sent to all the contacts of our member companies that we have registered in our database. If you would like to share it with further colleagues, kindly send us an email to members@european-bioplastics.org. 

Kind regards,
Hasso v. Pogrell

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