Winter 2020: BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE working closely with Stakeholders
The final week of November was very busy for BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE, with three stakeholder events organized by our partners. The week started with the Italian event: “Plastiche Rinnovabili, Biodegradabili E Compostabili” that ran from 24 - 26 November 2020. Organized by our partners Assobioplastiche Servizi srl (ASSO-BIO), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Tecnologie Innovative per il Controllo Ambientale e lo Sviluppo Sostenibile scrl (TICASS) and Università di Bologna (UNIBO), the event focused on the transition towards the Circular Economy, which is changing the way plastic materials are managed and provided an opportunity for the participants to deepen and grasp ideas on different issues together with citizens, companies, institutions, universities and research centers. On the first day, the event covered the topic of circular bioeconomy. The second day centered on bioplastic applications in the agri-food sector, covering challenges in the production of bio-based plastics which are used in agriculture, reduction of environmental impacts, protection of food quality in food contact applications, and three case studies: one on the labeling of pesto jars, and two on biodegradable mulch film production for agricultural uses. The third and last day was dedicated to business models for sustainability, such as: circular bioeconomy for soil regeneration, use of bio-based compostable plastics and recycled plastics for the production of flexible food packaging, and the production of biopolymers from coffee waste and orange peel. The event had an impressive turnout of more than 200 attendees throughout these three days. Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) organized the event: “Future opportunities and limitations for bio-based plastics in the UK” on 25.11.2020 with insights from the industry and from waste management operators. In the event, the issue of returning biowaste from cities to the biosphere was related as the major challenge and opportunity in the industry. It is necessary to treat food waste in a way which does not pollute the soil. This can be achieved by increasing the use of compostable materials. From the waste management operators’ point of view, it is necessary to have clarity on materials, labelling, bins and end markets to avoid contamination in the recycling systems. Otherwise, a small amount of compostable material can contaminate standard plastic recycling streams, leading to the waste of huge quantities of recyclable material. Finally, our Malaysian partner Heng Hiap Industries (HHI) had its stakeholder meeting “Current Realities of Biodegradable and Biobased Plastics in Circular Economy” on 26.11.2020 with 50 attendees. The company’s CEO and founder reflected on the current trend of combining biobased and biodegradable plastics. He presented a case study of biodegradable biobased flower pots which the company is marketing in the Australian and Japanese markets. The presentation was followed by lively discussions. We are looking forward to a very action-packed month of December, with events in English, Polish, Swedish, Finnish and French coming up. The first event of the month will be on 8 December (from 14.30 CET) and is held in Polish. It focuses on: ‘Bio-based plastics - a modern material for the protection of land and sea environment in Europe’. To register for this event, please visit: http://www.proakademia.eu/bioplastik/ The Finnish-Swedish stakeholder follows the Polish event and is held on 16 December from 8:30 am until 16:00 EET. The seminar addresses the topic of: “Plastics in Carbon Neutral and Biocircular Economy”, and to register for this event, please visit: https://www.lyyti.fi/reg/plastics For more details about the BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE project and our events, please visit: https://bioplasticseurope.eu/news-events Besides this we are planning many interesting activities, webinars and workshops in 2021!