At the 17th annual European Bioplastics (EUBP) Conference, industry experts discussed the latest innovations in the bioplastics sector and debated the most recent political developments.
What is bioplastic?
These included the Commission’s first policy framework on innovative bioplastic materials as well as the proposal for a Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste (PPWR).
In his opening remarks, Stefan Barot, Chairman of European Bioplastics (EUBP), emphasized the leadership role of the European Union (EU) in addressing the existing environmental challenges. He focused on the EU’s promotion of a circular economy to achieve European climate neutrality by 2050 and the contribution bioplastics can make to achieve this goal, Barot said: “Bioplastics with their beginning of life and end of life advantages and their special material properties have a lot to offer. The same goes for the industry, an important player in the technical and political debate. However, to use its full potential to support the EU climate objectives and to foster innovation, our industry needs a future-oriented, clear, and transparent economic and regulatory environment”.
The conference programme examined key issues along the bioplastics value chain. In ten different sessions, over 40 speakers and moderators focused on the contribution that biobased and biodegradable and compostable plastics can make to achieve a circular economy.The conference sessions, amongst other topics, highlighted best practices in food waste collection, showed new directions in bioplastic innovation and gave a global perspective on standardisation. The policy panel further elaborated on the role of especially compostable plastics in the circular economy.
Industry and policymakers agreed on the necessity to work closely together to establish an adequate environment for bioplastics. In other sessions conference attendees also discussed end of life options of biobased and compostable plastics and their benefits. Further topics were recent advances in bioplastic packaging and innovative applications towards sustainability. New European Bioplastics market data, based on research from the nova-institute, gave a positive outlook for bioplastics production. “The global bioplastics production capacity is set to increase significantly from around 2.23 million tonnes in 2022 to 6.3 million tonnes in 2027,” said Hasso von Pogrell, Managing Director of EUBP.This year, bioplastics’ business and networking platform was held in a hybrid format attracting more than 360 participants. Over 300 participants attended in person, while the other attendees were able to follow the event online. At the conference, around 30 companies and institutions showcased the new products, materials, and applications