Page 42 - Plastics News Issue May 2025
P. 42
FEATURE NEWS
GRECO will work on different end-of-life (EoL) needs and their perceptions to ascertain how
scenarios, including testing the recyclability of GRECO products align with the perceptions of
the biobased polymers and materials with me- consumers and their related values, such as sus-
chanical and chemical recycling (both in open tainability, usability, and accessibility.
and in closed-loop systems). Innovative recycling
technologies will also be used on post-consum- GRECO’s results are foreseen to provide a con-
er plastic packaging approved for food contact crete contribution to several European action
and deliver decontaminated recycled-biobased plans and strategies, such as the Plastics Strat-
polyesters. egy, the Single-Use Plastics Directive, the Circu-
lar Economy Action Plan, and the Packaging and
At the same time, a biodegradability assessment Packaging Waste Regulation.
will be performed for aerobic and anaerobic bio-
degradation. The biodegradability of the devel- Hasso von Pogrell, Managing Director of Euro-
oped materials will be tested in marine, water, pean Bioplastics indicates that “European Bio-
and soil environments. The materials will also plastics strongly believes that an actionable EU
be tested for industrial composting conditions Bioeconomy Strategy should be a top priority
and home composting. The certification bod- to safeguard the strength of our European in-
ies TÜV AUSTRIA Belgium and DIN CERTCO will dustries. This is only possible with a strong col-
benefit from the results of biodegradability test- laboration between all stakeholders, more policy
ing in open environments and use the inputs to support, and technological advancement. This
plan changes and revisions in their certification project is an outstanding example of this collab-
schemes. oration and will bring great advancement to the
development of circular bioplastics”.
The consortium will also collect and analyse Source – RECYCLING magazine
qualitative and quantitative data on consumer
42 PLASTICS NEWS May 2025
