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 [...]
The new German packaging law (Verpackungsgesetz, effective from January 2019, we reported earlier this year) includes provisions under which the participation fees for packaging shall be adapted in order to incentivise the use of recycled and renewable materials. The consequential increase in bio-based plastic packaging and the expected rise of new types of materials [...]
Berlin, 29 November 2017 – The results of European Bioplastics’ annual market data update, presented today at the 12th European Bioplastics Conference in Berlin, confirm a stable growth of the global bioplastics industry. “The global market for bioplastics is predicted to grow by 20 percent over the next five years. The transition to a [...]
With growing market volumes of innovative bio-based and biodegradable plastics such as PLA (polylactic acid), the recycling of these materials is becoming a more viable option. We therefore spoke to Steve Dejonghe from Looplife Polymers Site, a recycler in Belgium that already successfully recycles PLA for a number of industrial projects, about the recyclability [...]
IKEA’s first large-scale bioplastic product: The popular re-sealable sandwich bag ISTAD is the first large-scale bioplastic product from IKEA. The bags are made from bio-based plastics derived from sugarcane where everything is either used or reused, so there is no waste in the production. IKEA estimates to sell 1.4 billion ISTAD bags this year, which [...]
Berlin, 17 October 2017 – Biodegradable plastics offer innovative solutions to improve recycling quality by facilitating the means for more efficient separate waste collection. This has been confirmed by a recent study jointly released by Corepla, the Italian Consortium for Collecting, Recycling, and Recovering Plastic Packaging, the Italian Composters Consortium (CIC), and Assobioplastiche, the [...]
Every year, the European Bioplastics Conference features a well-rounded conference programme attracting senior executives from across the bioplastics value chain, policy bodies, NGOs, and brand owners. We are happy to announce some first highlights of this year’s conference, taking place on 28-29 November 2017 in Berlin, Germany. Kristy-Barbara Lange, Deputy Managing Director, European [...]
New bio-based PE films: UPM Raflatac, a global manufacturer of label materials, extends its range of film face materials for the European market with a new plant-based material that provides a sustainable alternative to fossil-based films for a wide variety of end uses. RafBio PE performs just like standard PE film, and its excellent [...]
Berlin, 21 September 2017 – In the light of the current debates and consultations on the upcoming EU Strategy on Plastics and the revision of the EU waste legislation, European Bioplastics (EUBP), the association for the bioplastics industry in Europe, echoes the call for greater investments in the implementation of separate recycling streams, made [...]
First Bonsucro certified sugar delivery arriving at the Corbion site in Rayong, Thailand. Image: Total Corbion PLA. Total Corbion PLA, global technology leader and producer of PLA (Poly Lactic Acid) bioplastics and lactide monomers, announced last week that PLA resins from Bonsucro certified sugarcane are now available for commercial order. Converters and [...]