In order to prepare to engage with stakeholders and political changes in the bioplastics sector, the European Bioplastics Conference held on December 6 and 7, brought together more than 360 participants, including experts, entities, laboratories and companies. CETEC also attended, of course, this important event.
The EUBP Conference: “The bioplastics industry prepares for the next legislation”
The 17th Annual European Conference on Bioplastics marked the perfect setting for experts from the plastics industry to discuss the latest innovation in the bioplastics sector. The meeting promoted the debate around the most recent political changes, such as the first political framework of the European Commission on innovative bioplastic materials. Another of the topics discussed was the proposed Regulation on packaging and packaging waste, or PPWR. Among the conclusions, both the participating experts and legislators agreed that the regulatory environment for bioplastics requires continued close cooperation between industry and politics.
“Bioplastics with their early- and end-of-life advantages and their special material properties have a lot to offer. The same goes for industry, a major player in the technical and political debate. However, using its full potential to support bioplastics EU climate goals and to foster innovation, our industry needs a clear, transparent and future-oriented economic and regulatory environment,” commented Stefan Barot, President of European Bioplastics (EUBP), at the start of the conference.
CETEC in the bioplastics race
The conference sessions, among other topics, discussed best practices in food waste collection, as well as new directions in bioplastic innovation. Both themes are well known at CETEC, where we work on several European projects where bioplastics and the revaluation of food and agricultural waste are closely linked in more sustainable solutions, applied to current problems.
Agro2Circular is a project that promotes the upcycling of both fruit and vegetable agri-food waste and the multilayer plastics associated with them. This is done through innovative valorization and recycling routes to obtain high added value products.
upPE-T project is aimed at the upcycling of PE and PET wastes to produce bioplastics to be used in the manufacturing of food packaging.
Moreover, at CETEC we are currently working on several lines of research for the recycling of plastics and wastes and bioplastics production in order to provide new solutions that ensure a viable and sustainable circular economy.
