In an opening speech to the 8th European Bioplastics Conference on 10-11 December in Berlin, Germany, EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik has said bioplastics can play a “crucial role” in Europe‘s transition towards a circular biobased economy.
Potocnik encouraged the bioplastics industry to “continue their work on making bioplastics a truly sustainable material, neutral in its impact on food production and biodiversity”.
However, he also pointed out that the industry needs to continuously and transparently inform the public about its products and processes in order to clarify its position and continue to prosper.
“Bioplastics made from bio-feedstock, and reintegrated into the biosphere as a nutrient, or recycled together with conventional plastic, clearly have a potential for being a truly sustainable material,” Potocnik said, adding: “And it could reduce fossil fuel consumption.”
European Bioplastics and the Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites (IfBB – University of Applied Arts Hannover, Germany) also presented their annual market data update for the sector at the Conference.
The data showed that production capacities will multiply from “around 1.4 million tonnes in 2012 to more than 6 million tonnes in 2017”.
All material types are gaining ground with biobased, non-biodegradable ‘drop-in’ solutions, such as biobased PE and biobased PET, leading the field.
The update also showed that biodegradable plastics, including PLA, biodegradable polyesters and starch-blends, are also demonstrating “impressive” growth rates, with their production capacity expected to “gain around 60% by 2017”.
