On 7 April 2016, the European Parliament Intergroup on ‘Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development’ invited a group of policy-makers and experts from regional authorities, NGOs and other stakeholders along the plastics value chain to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the role of plastics in the circular economy at a meeting entitled "The [...]
In 2013, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) was entrusted to set up a Bioeconomy Oberservatory with the task to perform a comprehensive environmental sustainability assessment of various bio-based products and their supply chains using a life-cycle perspective. In November 2015, JRC published its report on the 'Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Bioeconomy Products [...]
The new wording of the French implementation decree on single-use plastic bags, which was published by the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy on 1 February 2016, sets out clear requirements for the reduction of single-use plastic bags in favour of bio-based, biodegradable and home-compostable bags, in line with the EU Directive. [...]
Since January 2015, separate collection of organic waste is mandatory in Germany. The implementation, however, has been rather slow, and not all municipalities provide separate biowaste collection schemes yet. The German association for compostable products ‘Verbund kompostierbare Produkte e.V.’ therefore recently called for municipalities to implement the separate collection of biowaste and support the [...]
EU Circular Economy Package In December 2015, the European Commission published the Circular Economy Proposal, which is an important step towards closing the carbon loop in Europe and making sure resources are not wasted but re-enter the economy by design or intention. Bioplastics play a key role in [...]
Relevant EU policies Representing the interests of the entire value-chain of biobased, recyclable, and biodegradable/compostable materials and products, European Bioplastics (EUBP) proactively contributes to ongoing discussions and works closely with the EU institutions to ensure a fit for purpose legislative framework in Europe for bioplastics to thrive in. [...]
Press Release French decree supports biobased and home-compostable bags No single-use plastic bags at cash registers as of 1 July 2016 Berlin, 11 February 2016. European Bioplastics (EUBP), the association representing the bioplastics industry in Europe, welcomes the new wording of the French implementation decree on single-use plastic bags, which was published by the French [...]
On 2 December 2015, the European Commission (EC) published the long awaited new Circular Economy Proposal. European Bioplastics (EUBP) welcomes the EC’s proposal and is looking forward to contributing to the debate on how renewable and biodegradable materials can best fit into this vision. "The proposal is an important step towards closing the carbon [...]
The 10th European Bioplastics Conference took place on 5/6 November 2015 in Berlin, attracting more than 350 participants from industry, policy, research, and media. In his keynote speech, Mr Reinhard Büscher, Head of Unit Chemicals, DG GROWTH at the European Commission, stressed the necessity to promote biobased products in the European Union in order [...]
Press Release Commission’s Circular Economy Proposal leaves room for more ambitious actions on bio-industries such as bioplastics Berlin, 2 December 2015. With its new proposal on the Circular Economy Package in Europe, presented today, the European Commission outlines plans that respond to some of the main challenges of our time: the waste of energy [...]