Developing and Implementing Sustainability-Based Solutions for Bio-Based Plastic Production and Use to Preserve Land and Sea Environmental Quality in Europe (BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE)
Introduction to Bio-Plastics Europe
The project BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE aims to deliver strategic networking and research that will coordinate existing knowledge across Europe, catalysing new ideas and rapid solutions across the research and innovation landscape.
To encourage a holistic, collaborative approach towards bio-based plastics research and implementation, two networks have been set up, with two major target audiences in mind, public authorities and research interested parties: European Bioplastics Research Network, which aims to congregate experiences representatives from universities and enterprises in research about bio-based and biodegradable plastics; Network of Historic Cities agains Plastic Waste, which aims to congregate historical cities across Europe whose aged infrastructure makes them especially vulnerable to many problems caused by plastic pollution.
Our Goal
Our main goal is to develop these strategies by:
- Including innovative product design and business models facilitating efficient reuse and recycling strategies;
- Ensuring the safety of recycled materials when used for toys or packaging food stuffs;
- Developing approaches that focus on circular innovation for the whole bio-based and biodegradable system.
Our objectives
- Testing and deploying innovative product design strategies and pursuing innovative business models targeting efficient reuse and recycling of bio-based plastics. All the while, it is a requirement to ensure the health and safety of recycled materials when used for producing toys, food packaging, cutlery and agricultural equipment.
- Mapping current waste collection and management schemes as well as recycling inefficiencies, identifying, listing and addressing technical and economic barriers to bio-based plastics recycling as regards established and/or alternative recycling options, also addressing safety and impacts on ecosystems and defining key priority areas for enhancing waste collection and management.
- Investigating the potential impacts of bioplastics on terrestrial and aquatic environments, including on flora, fauna and human health. This is necessary for the for the biodegradable sustainability framework.
- To build a biodegradable plastics sustainability framework, also by producing a “bioplastic safety protocol” (as a reliable means to ensure the safety of bioplastic materials), and by a mapping focusing on the applications where biodegradable and compostable solutions could support public policies.
- To develop Innovative Business Models facilitating efficient reuse and recycling strategies and solutions, creating a better framework for systemic innovation and uptake of results through broad stakeholder engagement and improve the professional skills and competences of those working and being trained to work within the blue economy and the bio-economy by means of the execution of a set of training activities.
- To design, test and deploy a coordinated Communication Strategy and the related tools for cooperative knowledge sharing of Best Practices and Lessons Learned. The knowledge basis and on-going stakeholder and citizens dialogue initiated in objectives 1 to 5 will support the communication strategy by identifying joint knowledge creation needs, prompt industry and stakeholders feedback/responses, as well as a proactive communication flows, for successful replication.
Expected results
We expect to come up with:
- Innovative material, in order to foster and encourage deployment of innovative bio-based and biodegradable materials;
- Stakeholders engagement, to ensure strong commitment to producers, politicians, industrial ans private consumers;
- Business models, to experiment with innovative business models by incorporating circularity and sustainability to maximize the value of materials along the entire value chain;
- Safety protocols, to ensure the safe use and end-of-life management on innovative bio-based plastics.
Work Packages
Main conclusion
We develop and implement sustainability-based solutions for bio-based plastic production and use to preserve land and sea environmental quality in Europe.
BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE delivers these sustainable strategies and solutions for bio-based plastics to support the EU-Plastic Strategy and promote circularity in the economy. We are not only a research project, but also an intervention which takes into account the transformations triggered by a new awareness of bio-based plastics. We believe in a participatory research and innovation process.
