Issue 02/2016

daily upated news at
www.bioplasticsmagazine.com
News
France supports biobased & home-compostable bags
European Bioplastics (EUBP), the association representing the bioplastics industry in Europe, welcomes the approval of the
French implementation decree on single-use plastic bags, which was published by the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable
Development and Energy last week on 1 February 2016.
“The decree sets out clear requirements for the reduction of single-use plastic bags in favor of biobased, biodegradable and
home-compostable bags. This is an important measure and supports the efforts of EUBP to emphasise the essential role of
bioplastics for the circular economy in Europe,” says Hasso von Pogrell, Managing Director of EUBP.
In September last year, the French government notified the European Commission and its 27 EU colleague nations of its draft
decree (décret) restricting use of plastics carrier bags in France. The decree, as part of the new law on Energy Transition and
Green Growth, was intended as the instrument to implement the obligations on plastics bags that had been adopted by the
French Assemblée Nationale to implement the EU requirements, and stated:
“The decree defines the conditions for the application of the legislative provisions of the Environmental Code, aiming to ban
the marketing of disposable plastic bags, with the exception, for bags other than carrier bags, of compostable bags that can be
disposed of with household composting waste and which entirely or partially consist of bio-sourced materials.”
On 21 December 2015, the European Commission formally issued a detailed letter to the French government objecting to
parts of its draft decree to restrict the use of single use plastics carrier bags. As of 1 February, however, an implementation
decree setting out the requirements and conditions in greater detail has been approved and will come into effect on 1 July
2016. The decree applies to single-use carrier bags below a thickness of 50 µm, which will have to meet the requirements of
the French standard for home composting and feature a biobased content of at least 30 %. The minimum biobased content
will increase progressively to 40 % in 2018, 50 % in 2020, and 60 % in 2025. Appropriate bioplastics materials have been readily
available on the market for quite some time, and manufacturers are eagerly waiting in the wings.
Christophe Doukhi-de Boissoudy, president of French association Club Bio-plastiques comments: “We welcome the
mobilisation of public authorities in order to finally achieve such a measure. It will allow biobased and biodegradable plastics
stakeholders to harness the benefits of their research efforts to develop new biodegradable and compostable plastics that
reduce our dependency on oil. The decree will help to reduce the plastic bags pollution as well as to revive economic activity for
French plastics converters, as 90 % of fruit and vegetable bags are currently being imported.”
The law makes France one of the first European countries to take concrete measures on plastic bags in favor of biobased and
compostable bags in an effort to comply with the European Directive to reduce the consumption of lightweight plastic bags. It
also underpins the benefits of separate collection of organic waste with biodegradable and compostable bags. The draft decree
was amended to take the notions of the European Commission and the French State Council into account.
“We expect the French decree to serve as an example for European legislation and to contribute to the increased demand of
sustainable bioplastic solutions,” von Pogrell concluded. KL
www.european-bioplastics.org
Corbion PLA plant in Thailand
Corbion has announced in early March that after completing the pre-engineering stage of its proposed 75,000 tonnes per
year PLA polymerization plant in Thailand on schedule, the project is now moving into the basic engineering phase.
The new plant will be located in Thailand, Rayong Province, at the existing Corbion site and will produce a complete portfolio
of PLA polymers, ranging from standard PLA to high-heat resistant PLA. The company announced the project in 2014, citing
strong customer interest in PLA as the motivation behind the investment, although at that time, Tjerk de Ruiter, CEO of Corbion,
stressed that “we will only commence with this investment if we can secure at least one-third of plant capacity in committed
PLA volumes from customers”.
The pre-engineering phase commenced in 2015, after “the necessary technical and financial validation for such a plant” had
been secured.
Construction, which is expected to require capital expenditures of approximately EUR 65 million for the PLA plant and
EUR 20 million for the lactide plant, is expected to start later this year with a targeted start-up in the second half of 2018.
Additionally, Corbion will expand its existing lactide plant in Thailand by 25,000 tonnes per year. With this expansion the
company will be able to serve both its own PLA plant and current and future lactide customers. The lactide expansion will also
enable the production of a wider range of lactides than is currently possible.
Corbion’s pre-marketing activities continue and a portfolio of PLA resins is commercially available for technical validation.
Corbion will also continue to explore strategic opportunities as part of its PLA growth strategy. KL
www.corbion.com
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