EU not in favour of compostable plastics

In 2015, the Commission adopted an EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy to help stimulate Europe’s transition to a circular economy. We were inspired by this article from Bioplasticsnews to share this news with you. The increasing number of plastic products and packaging marketed as “biodegradable” or “compostable (home)” raises the question of how biodegradability and compostability (home) of plastics are beneficial in the context of the transition to a circular economy. Last March the European Commission published a study assessing the possible implications of the use of these products and identifies conditions/applications where the industrial or domestic compostability of products or packaging could be an added value compared to reuse and other forms of recovery. Download the study here. The results indicate that the evidence is weak in favour of a particular agronomic advantage associated with compostable plastics in compost and therefore material choices for products and packaging should favour recyclability over compostability. Exceptions to this rule are cases where the use of compostable plastics has demonstrated “additional benefits” such as increased organic waste collection and diversion from residual waste or reduced contamination of compost by the plastic. Find here all our products, recyclable or compostable.