Activity Report - May 2023

Please find below an overview of activities carried out by European Bioplastics throughout June 2023.

Members Meeting & Open House Day

The Members Meeting took place on Tuesday, 06 June 2023, at the Thon Hotel EU, Rue de la Loi 75, 1000 Brussels. Click here for the minutes, the annual report and further documents.

For further detailed information on the Members Meeting, please contact Hasso von Pogrell (pogrell@european-bioplastics.org).

Board meeting

On 15 June the Board met in Brussels to discuss strategical issues with a focus on future staffing of the association as well as streamlining the work in the Working- and Product Groups.

For further detailed information, please contact Hasso von Pogrell (pogrell@european-bioplastics.org).

EUBP Staff

At the end of June, our dear colleague Constance Ißbrücker left the association. We thank her for her great work over the past 10 years and wish her good luck for her next career steps.

For further detailed information, please contact Hasso von Pogrell (pogrell@european-bioplastics.org).

Regulatory Affairs (WG REGA)

The WG REGA met on 1 and 29 June to discuss the latest EU policy developments, with a focus on the Commission’s proposal for a revised Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which has been defined the top priority for the group this year.

The Commission’s proposal for a revised Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is being discussed both in the Parliament and in the Council (co-decision process / ordinary legislative procedure). There seems to be 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 PPWR file has thus been going in full force ahead this last month.

Following up on the Board discussion for a new REGA structure and due to the need to discuss the PPWR file frequently, it was decided during the REGA meeting on 1 June to set-up a Task Force PPWR (TF PPWR). The TF and the WG will both meet once a month, alternating every two weeks. Over 20 member companies participated in the first meeting of the TF PPWR on 15 June.

This first meeting made it possible for the members of the TF to share information about the state of play in the EP ENVI and ITRE Committees, the discussions within the Council, and to decide on a way forward. The TF decided among other things to prepare a voting list of the most important ENVI amendments.

In the Parliament, discussions continued on the compromise amendments during the month of June in all relevant Committees. The lead Committee ENVI has been the most active in organising both technical and political meetings, but ITRE, IMCO and AGRI have also continued their work. Even though the calendar has not moved (ENVI vote on 20 September and Plenary vote on 2 October), it seems that the initial timing to find an agreement within the Committees will not be reached. EUBP is in continuous contact with MEP Ries and the Shadows in ENVI and the rapporteurs of the other Committees on our main policy asks.

The Swedish Presidency organised a Working Party (WP) of the Environment on 22-23 June and proposed a Presidency Steering note for the WP that concluded their work on the PPWR file. The work in the Council seems to be chaotic with lots of points still open for discussion. On a positive note, the Swedes proposed to include biobased content in the PPWR, but this is still far from decided among all other Member States. EUBP sent out commentary and feedback on the Swedish proposal to all Permanent Representations and is trying to build up more personal relations with some key Member States, for example, Spain, Belgium, Italy and Germany.

Another very topical policy point concerned the newly published Delegated Act on Circular economy within the Taxonomy framework. As we were surprised to find a discrepancy with the Climate Mitigation Act on the use of “first- and second-generation” feedstock not being seen as sustainable, EUBP contacted DG FISMA and DG ENV for clarification. Our Chair also sent a letter to Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, as agreed by the Board, expressing concern on a strong and consistent inclusion of biobased feedstock in the EU Taxonomy and other regulatory developments.

REGA also discussed the latest updates and next steps on other relevant policy files, including the First Waste Early Warning Report, the Commission proposal for a Green Claims Directive (public consultation open until 21 July) )and the proposal for an Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (Council general approach was found on 22 May, Plenary is planned on 10 July, after which trilogues will start)).

The policy team of EUBP is looking to build more alliances with stakeholders in our field. Operational relations are being set up with EUROPEN, we are looking into stronger cooperation with other (trade) associations and are participating in lots of events in the EU Bubble to represent and make EUBP more known.

The next meeting of the TF PPWR will be held on 13 July and the next REGA meeting on 27 of July. The WG decided on the REGA dates until the end of 2023.

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 June 27 to discuss key policy issues and to coordinate and agree on activities.

Having finalised EUBA’s position on the PPWR file beginning of May, the group reflected on a way to continue cooperation through the legislative process. As suggested by EUBP, the Alliance will see if it’s possible to work together on the issue of biobased content within the PPWR, as there seems to be an opening from the institutions on this point. EUBA is trying to set up a meeting with Sevim Atkas from DG Environment (date tbc) and discussed the need to develop a common ask for this meeting. The Alliance also discussed the policy development within Taxonomy (discrepancy DA climate mitigation and DA circular economy) and the state of play in several policy files as the certification on carbon removals, the cascading use principle and Green Claims. On the set-up of an EUBA Manifesto, the lead (ePure) informed the Operational group on its intention to circulate a first draft to the task force in the following two weeks.

EUBP will inform the WG REGA group about the progress and position of EUBA on these issues and tasks.

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

BON Europe

Since the beginning of 2023, BON Europe members are all invited to participate in EUBP's working group Regulatory Affairs (WG REGA) to allow for a more efficient collaboration and knowledge exchange, in particular on the PPWR, which most of BON members have taken advantage of and it's been a fruitful exchange that we want to continue. However, in order to avoid duplication of meetings and to streamline the exchange of information, the following changes to the workings and structure of BON Europe have been agreed:

• BON Europe members continue to be invited to participate in EUBP's WG REGA meetings and potentially subsequent task force groups (such as TF PPWR) that are of relevance for the national associations.
• BON Europe members are encouraged to use the regular WG REGA meetings to share or seek relevant information or advice.
• Bilateral meetings (between the coordinator EUBP and individual BON members) will be set up on a case-by-case basis to discuss individual advocacy actions on national level.
• Increased engagement of individual member companies of the participating associations is strongly encouraged to maximise the effects of advocacy efforts on national level.
• The frequency of dedicated BON Europe meetings will be reduced (from once a month) to be held once a year, ideally in person, and potentially alongside EUBP's annual European Bioplastics Conference.

For more information regarding BON Europe, please contact Katrin Schwede (schwede@european-bioplastics.org).

Product Groups

Product Group Biobased

TF 2 has been working on an update of the Position Paper on End-of-Life options for biobased plastics.

For further information regarding biobased plastics, including sustainability issues and the work of the PG and TFs, please contact Marike Fronk (fronk@european-bioplastics.org) or Hasso von Pogrell (pogrell@european-bioplastics.org).

Product Group Biodegradables

EUBP and the PG Chairs worked 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.

The members of TF AGRI were able to use the EUBP position paper on why soil-biodegradable mulch films should be included in the Fertilising Product Regulation (FPR) to reach out to Member States, including Italy, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal. The EUBP policy team will support the outreach and will give an update on this in the upcoming TF meeting.

Together with TF AGRI, EUBP in its role as observer to the EU COM Expert Group on Fertilising Products, officially sent comments to the AIMPLAS draft final report to the Expert Group and to AIMPLAS directly. EUBP was informed that AIMPLAS has taken up all the comments, although we did not receive the final version, yet.

EUBP was invited to join the Global Expert Meeting towards the development of a Voluntary Code of Conduct on the sustainable use of plastics in agriculture (VCoC), facilitated by FAO. The meeting took place on 27 June. TF AGRI member Sara Guerrini represented EUBP at the meeting and will give an update at the next TF meeting.

The next TF AGRI meeting will be organised in July.

For more information regarding PG Biodegradables, 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 in Malmö to further discuss the draft standard with additional guidelines for comparative LCA of biobased and fossil-based products. The draft has been restructured and the most recent comments were discussed. The meeting needs to be continued virtually on 12 July.

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

Additionally, the Comms team is part of the TF to organise the 30th anniversary event of the European Bioplastics in Brussels.

The Comms team has created a communication plan to unveil our Material Management Concept and it will start with an exclusive presentation by the Chairperson, Stefan Barot during the 30th anniversary event.

The Comms team participated to EUBA’s TF Comms meeting (as it was scheduled the day of the open house, we had a call prior to raise our points). It has been decided that the website will be redone in the next months, a social media campaign has been planned around the PPWR position paper, and EUBP will actively repurpose the messages.

Throughout the month, EUBP Comms responded to several media inquiries.

An interview was conducted with EUBP MD, Hasso von Pogrell, about developments and prospective of the biopolymers industry for media outlet Chemical World. The article was published on June.

The Comms team secured two speaking opportunities (a dedicated workshop and a seat on the general panel) as well as promotions for the Sustainable Packaging Summit, organised by Packaging Europe. The Comms team also secured a podcast recording that will be recorded in July with MD Hasso von Pogrell.

In May, an interview was conducted with Constance Ißbrücker, former EUBP Deputy Managing Director and Head of Environmental Affairs, on the topic of biodegradability of biopolymers in a marine environment, with Packaging Insights. The article was published on 6 June.

The Comms team also secured media partnerships with Green Chemicals Blog, Eco-plastics in Packaging, Renewable Matter, nova-Institute, EUWID, RSB, WRF for EBC 2023

This year, EUBP will be once again a partner of the Bioplastics Week, organized by PLASTICS, the Plastics Industry Association. Our members are invited to actively take part. More infos can be found here.

The Comms team followed several events, including EU Green Week’s Plastics Circular Economy: Balancing Consumer Trends & Known Health Risks, POLITICO’s Competition Without Borders, Brussels Press Club’s AI & The Future of Public Affairs.

The Comms team also investigated how to improve the social media presence on both Twitter and Instagram. Twitter Blue is now active, and we are putting together a plan to improve community management.

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 finalised and will be public at the beginning of July together with a new version of the logo (including “industrially compostable”). The corresponding usage guidelines will be updated accordingly with suggestions to use extended improved messaging around the logo.

The next meeting of the Advisory Board of the Seedling Scheme (ACS) is scheduled for 7 July 2023, 2:00 p.m., online.

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

Event Management

In June, 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 will be reviewed with the advisory board.

The General Assembly and the Open House Day at the EUBP office in Brussels took place on 5 and 6 June. The Open House Day was a success, more than 50 participants came by to see the new office and network with the staff and EUBP members.

The 30 years EUBP anniversary in September will take place at the Representation of North Rhine-Westfalia on 20 September, first invitations have been sent and the development of the programme started.

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

• EUBP Head of EU Affairs, Roberto Ferrigno, was part of a panel on ‘Packaging innovation and recycling’ during a Conference organised by the Italian Permanent Representation to the European Union at the European Parliament called “Packaging Fit for Purpose – Tailored solutions to Protect Products and Prevent Waste in the EU” on 6 June.

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.
 
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) which will feed the deliverable on liaison activities with standardisation bodies due in July 2023 (confidential). THE BIOMAC consortium met on 29-30 June in Ghent for their general assembly. Partners gathered to review the activities undertaken the last six months and to provide an outlook on the activities to come, including the implementation of the new test cases and the planned liaison activities above mentioned.

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 co-organised, participated and contributed to two dissemination and communication events in June. On 14 June 2023, together with other Horizon Results Booster and other Horizon 2020 cluster projects, PRESERVE organised the webinar “Upcycling strategies for the production of sustainable (bio) plastics”. Click here to access the recording of the event.

Moreover, PRESERVE organised its first webinar on preliminary results of the project. The webinar took place on 19 June and was focused on biobased coatings and Food Contact Material regulation. You can access the recording here.

Furthermore, EUBP, as partner responsible for Dissemination, has prepared publishable summaries of the project deliverables (reports written by the partner, which can be accessed on the project website.

Lastly, together with the partner in charge of Communication, EUBP prepared a series of infographics on the state of play of the policy frameworks and initiatives of relevance to the PRESERVE project. They can be downloaded on the project´s website and shared through the EUBP and PRESERVE social media accounts.

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

 
Novel packaging films and textiles with tailored end of life and performance based on bio-based copolymers and coatings (BIOnTop)

The BIOnTop project has officially come to an end with the last activities and the final conference organised in May in Düsseldorf (back to back to Interpack). The “Conference on Innovations on Sustainable Materials for Textiles, Coatings, Films and other wide use Applications” focused on biobased packaging solutions, the use of sustainable materials in wide use applications. The event collected the innovative scientific inputs of many research organisations working on the conference topics, with inputs with 12 outstanding EU-funded projects. The proceedings of the conference with links to all presentations and video recordings are available in open access here. The videos are available on YouTube.

EUBP is currently working on the final reporting.

Click here to find out more about the BIOnTop 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 is expected to resume activities in September. EUBP is organising, together with experts of the Albstadt Sigmarinen University (ASU) a breakfast workshop on the 13 December 2023 in Berlin, back-to-back with the EUBP Conference, on the following topic: 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?

The registration will be opened soon on the EUBP website.

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 in 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
• Develop and submit input to the public consultation on the Commission proposal for Green Claims Directive published (deadline 21 July)
• 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
• Follow-up on the DG Grow Workshop on the topic of “Biobased industries and Biomaterials – Opportunities for acceleration” and EUBP’s contribution
• Continue EUBA leadership on the PPWR-file
• Next TF PPWR meeting on 13 July and next REGA meeting on 27 July
  

Communications

• Update EUBP publications
• Engage with Brussels press and trade associations
• Prepare a set of key messages for on-the-spot reactions to press
• Work on the MCC publication
• Next WG Comms meeting on 7 July

PG Biobased / PG Biodegradables

• Existing TF meetings to be scheduled
• 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
• CEN/TC 411 WG 4 Meeting on 12 July 2023 (online)

Seedling Logo

• Publish the extended communication instructions of the Seedling Logo together with the updated Certification Scheme
• Next ACS Meeting on 7 July

EU Projects

• PRESERVE General Meeting, 4-5 July 2023, Florence.
• European Bioeconomy University Scientific Forum, 6-8 September2023, Vienna.
• PRESERVE Knowledge Transfer Workshop, 20 September 2023, online.
• PRESERVE Webinar, October 2023, online.
• PRESERVE Workshop 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.

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

Disclaimer

The information transmitted by this email is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed. This email may contain proprietary, business-confidential, and/or privileged material. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, be aware that any use, review, retransmission, distribution, reproduction, or any action taken in reliance upon this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from all computers.