Author: Maria Negut, Head of EU Affairs at European Bioplastics e.V. The long-awaited EC proposal for Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) was finally published on 30 March 2022, building upon the “Ecodesign Directive”, which currently only covers energy-related products. Part of the Sustainable Products Initiative (SPI), the proposal for ecodesign is [...]
In modern agriculture you can find a great number of plastic products that help improving the efficiency and, thus, the yield of the cultivated product. However, due to certain conditions that accompany many agricultural procedures, a not-negligible share of plastic remains in the soil. Especially in areas of intensive agriculture, significant amounts of microplastic [...]
Berlin, 14 December 2021 – Last week the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) published a report assessing the sustainability of agricultural plastic products[1] recommending the replacement of non-biodegradable, conventional polymers with biodegradable, bio-based polymers. “We welcome this recognition of the environmental benefits of these bioplastic products”, commented François de Bie, [...]
Promising interim results of field test with compostable plastic bags in supermarkets Since mid-March 2021, in the German city of Straubingen, supermarkets of the EDEKA and REWE company participate in a field test with compostable vegetable and fruit bags. Recently, first very positive interim results of a consumer survey and a compost analysis have been published. According to the survey, consumers showed a very high level of acceptance for the use of compostable [...]
Read in the following a guest contribution by BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE (BPE) introducing the European research project coordinated by the Hamburg University of Applied Science. For the EU Horizon 2020-funded project BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE “bio” is indeed the way forward. With 22 partners from 13 countries, the project represents both, the research and the industry sector. [...]
BASF Launches Circular Economy Program In a circular economy, the aim is to avoid waste, reuse products and recover resources. "Companies that can provide solutions for the transformation to a circular economy will have a crucial competitive advantage," said Dr. Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors and Chief Technology Officer of BASF, speaking about [...]
TÜV Austria to be platinum sponsor of 15th European Bioplastics Conference European Bioplastics (EUBP) is happy to announce the TÜV Austria Group as platinum sponsor of our 15th EUBP Conference (30 Nov – 3 Dec 2020), which will be held virtually. Our EUBP member brings safety, quality, innovation, environmental protection and business interests to [...]
The European Commission (EC) is currently revising the Essential Requirements for Packaging as part of the amendment of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD). They relate to the manufacturing and composition of packaging, its reusable and recoverable nature as well as to the minimization of hazardous materials. These requirements, and the associated [...]
In 2019, there was a strong, quite single-minded push against plastics in general from many civil society organisations as well as from major players in the media, and politics predominantly switched to this opinion. Long before the Covid-19 outbreak, industry associations expressed great reservations as to whether the restrictions included in the Single-use Plastics [...]
After the publication of its European Green Deal (Annex) in early December last year, the European Commission (EC) recently issued one of the deal’s key deliverables: the new Circular Economy Action Plan (nCEAP). Amongst several other crucial elements, whose publication was scheduled for March, the nCEAP is of special significance for the bioplastics industry. [...]
