In the context of the EU Plastics Strategy and the recently published proposal for a Directive on the reduction of single-use plastic products, biodegradable and compostable plastics are increasingly being discussed with regard to their potential to contribute to tackling marine litter. Constance Ißbrücker, Head of Environmental Affairs at European Bioplastics (EUBP), provides some [...]
DIN CERTCO offers certification for biodegradable mulch films: Mulch films help to protect plants, improve soil and increase yields in agriculture and horticulture. A major problem with conventional mulch films is the time-consuming collection of residues after use. Biodegradable mulch films offer a unique advantage as they can be left on the field to [...]
On 18 April, the European Parliament approved the package to update the EU waste legislation, including a revision of the Waste Framework Directive and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. Apart from new ambitious recycling and landfilling targets to boost the re-use of valuable materials in waste, the new legislation also acknowledges that bio-based [...]
From 2023 onwards, separate collection of bio-waste will be mandatory across Europe in order to increase the overall amounts of separately collected waste and to help meet the ambitious recycling targets set out in the new EU waste rules. Yet, the separate waste collection systems (including for bio-waste) still vary widely among the 28 [...]
On 16 January 2018, the European Commission published its Communication ‘A European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy’. According to the Commission, this proposal is an ambitious step towards making the European plastics system more resource-efficient and drive the change from a linear to a circular system. Bioplastics provide crucial impulses for innovation [...]
In February 2018, the district of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, located in a historic part of Barcelona, introduced a door-to-door separate waste collection system as part of the Zero Waste Strategy of the municipality. The project aims to minimise the quantity of waste sent to landfill and, more importantly, to involve citizens in order to make [...]
Revised legislative package on waste acknowledges that bioplastics play a key role in achieving EU recycling goals Berlin, 28 February 2018 – The provisional agreements reached by the European Council and Parliament on the EU waste legislative package published by the Commission in 2015, recognise the benefits of bioplastics. The new legislation acknowledges that [...]
The European Commission has recommended EU-wide measures be taken against so-called ‘oxo-degradable‘ plastics. In a report published earlier this month, the Commission said that "a process to restrict the use of oxo-plastics in the EU will be started". European Bioplastics (EUBP), the association of the bioplastics industry in Europe, strongly welcomes this clear commitment [...]
Companies in the food sector are increasingly looking for alternatives to conventional plastic packaging to reduce their CO2 footprint and are switching to packaging solutions made from renewable raw materials. A team at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands is studying the perceptions of bio-based packaging among consumers and aims to give manufacturers [...]
Non-biodegradable cotton buds prohibited in Italy from 2019: Italy will be the first country to ban non-biodegradable plastic cotton buds as of 2019. The Italian parliament adopted a proposal on 19 December 2017 to only allow the production and sale of cotton buds that are biodegradable and compostable according to the European standard EN [...]
