The companies, which represent 90% of the European market for biodegradable plastics, hope the agreement will mean an increased use of compostable polymers in European packaging.
” I warmly welcome this commitment. We are actively encouraging such initiatives by the private sector.“
– Gunter Verheugen, European Commission
The 10-year voluntary agreement with the European Commission involves companies including BASF, Cargill Dow, Novamont and Rodenburg Biopolymers pledging to use the EN 13432 standard for the production of biodegrable and compostable polymers. Other companies are also being encouraged to sign up to the agreement.
This standard means biodegradable plastic they produce must degrade by more than a 90% level within a three-month period under controlled composting conditions. It also requires toxicity and safety tests to be undertaken.
Confidence
Informing the Commission of the decision of the companies to sign up to the agreement, the European Renewable Resources and Materials Association (ERRMA) said it would mean improving confidence among buyers and users of biodegradable plastics. Previously there had been no common understanding of what biodegradability or compostability should mean, ERRMA general secretary Dietrich Wittmeyer said.
Mr Wittmeyer explained: “The effect of that is that the performance of products from such materials with regard to these properties differs widely, even to the extent that in extreme cases one could not really speak of biodegradability or compostability.”
Recycling
The companies that have signed up to the agreement believe its resulting increase in biodegradable plastic use will open up new avenues for waste management and recycling. The agreement suggests that the performance of integrated waste management facilities – combined composting and recycling plants – would improve as more packaging is made from biodegradable material.
The use of more biodegradable plastics would also reduce soil and water pollution as well as leading to development of technology within the biodegradable plastics sector, they believe.
And, if biodegradable polymers are made from certain agricultural crops, the measures could lead to additional income for farmers according to the Commission.
The Commission's vice president for enterprise, Gunter Verheugen, said: “I warmly welcome this commitment. We are actively encouraging such initiatives by the private sector. They are an alternative to 'hard' legislation and a central element of the Commission's zeal to regulate in a better and simpler way.”
About 38% of the plastics consumed in Western Europe go into making packaging, and the European Commission hopes that the agreement will urge other industry sectors to sign up to similar standards.
Targets
However, the agreement does not set any specific targets for increasing the use of biodegradable plastics in packaging products. The document states: “Targets as such cannot be quantified. However, this commitment has to be seen as a starting point for a wider use of the EN 13432 standard. Openness and flexibility of this self-commitment should encourage others to join in.”
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Monitoring of the self-commitment will be carried out by International Biodegradable Polymers Association & Working Groups (IBAW) and German certifying body Din Certco, with progress assessed every two years over the period of the agreement.
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