Taking centre stage

8 May 2014



European Bioplastics managing director Hasso von Pogrell speaks to Packaging Today to give an overview of the latest developments in the sector, as the association prepares for a busy week at the Interpack show in Düsseldorf, 8-14 May.


With around 70 members currently, and growing every year, European Bioplastics (EuBP) represents industry across the whole bioplastics value chain in Europe. The organisation will be present in its booth (F05) in Hall 9 at the heart of the bioplastics group exhibition at Interpack this month. On its special feature "bioplastics in packaging" stage (signposted "bip"), visitors will be able to gain up-to-the-minute insight, with presentations from companies including BASF, BioBag, Coca-Cola, Corbion, DuPont, Innovia Films, ITENE, NatureWorks, Novamont and Xylophane.European Bioplastics itself will present two different sessions on alternate days, entitled Untangling Bioplastics - terms, properties and advantages and Bioplastics packaging applications & doing "green" claims right.

Packaging Today: What news or trends in the bioplastics packaging segment can visitors to this year's Interpack expect to hear about at the European Bioplastics stand and stage?

Hasso von Pogrell: As Interpack is one of the most important trade fairs for our industry, and packaging is the leading application segment for all types of bioplastics, we will offer once more our "bioplastics in packaging" stage programme. A daily hour of expert presentations will showcase trends, new products and also give additional information about bioplastic properties, standards and communication.

Some interesting material news for flexible packaging will come from DuPont and Braskem. They have teamed up to produce biobased coextrudable adhesive resins and polymer modifiers.

During the stage programme, we will surely hear more about advantages for barrier properties of multilayer films. And on the labelling side, Innovia has recently announced a new cellulose based and compostable solution.

PT: Both of EuBP's presentations on the "bip" stage focus on 'enlightening' the audience about terminology, communication and so on. With regard to bioplastics' end of life, what would be your main messages for our readers?

HvP: The major part of all annually produced bioplastics are biobased and non-biodegradable - mostly it is biobased PET and biobased PE. Both can be easily recycled in existing recycling streams. For mechanical recycling the crux is mainly: if there is a separate stream, it can be recycled. So for bioplastics that are potentially recyclable but no stream is yet in existence, we are working on getting the volumes in the market to make this end of life option feasible. It is just a matter of time. There is great potential ahead - in terms of environmental performance, and also from the economic side.

Compostability of bioplastics can be a very useful feature for certain types of packaging. Facilitating a separate biowaste collection and increasing the amount collected by diverting food waste from landfill is an important step towards resource efficiency - a guiding principle that needs to be taken into account for all types of packaging.

In terms of communication, end of life claims should always be clearly stated and a recommendation given as to which way to dispose of a given type of packaging. Also, it is important to note that the disposal recommendation given should be feasible for the people that buy the product. The European Commission comments that a reasonable proportion of the consumers need to have access to the corresponding facilities.

PT: What are the major areas of development for the bioplastics market right now?

HvP: Higher biobased content, and where needed faster composting are two of the property developments we will see. For the question of feedstock, quite a few organisations and projects are looking into second and third generations. In particular, biowaste is an interesting feedstock of the future.

Packaging will in the medium term remain the strongest market segment, however, automotive and consumer electronics are gaining. Clothes might also be an application that will grow significantly.

When we look at the global landscape, South America and Asia are gaining in momentum, and the North American market is developing quite dynamically.

The development of the European bioplastics market is also above average, but our pole position will be tricky to hold up, as we do not have a clear supportive framework policy-wise. Other regions - such as the USA with its Biopreferred programme - are moving faster in this respect.

We hope that the European Union will become stronger regarding programmes for bioplastics, and will focus more on market introduction measures and not on basic research only. The first concrete steps have been a recent positive vote on exempting compostable lightweight plastics bags from bag reduction targets.

But this is just one application - a coherent framework for the European bioplastics market is needed to make use of its full potential for environment, economy and society.

According to the Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites (IfBB), the global biopolymers market is set to see a rapid growth starting from late 2014 that should see the market more then double in 2014-2016, from €5.7 billion - €13.6 billion in 2016.

www.en.european-bioplastics.org



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