{"id":179646,"date":"2026-08-12T07:32:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=179646"},"modified":"2026-08-05T15:03:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T13:03:17","slug":"cbe-ju-funded-projects-are-solving-europes-packaging-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/cbe-ju-funded-projects-are-solving-europes-packaging-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"CBE JU-funded projects are solving Europe\u2019s packaging challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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As the first provisions of the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)\u00a0begin to apply across the European\u00a0Union, the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking\u00a0(CBE JU) is highlighting EU-funded innovations already helping\u00a0industry prepare for the\u00a0transition to a more circular packaging.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PPWR is the most significant reform to European packaging legislation in decades, replacing the previous Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive with directly applicable rules across all Member States. It aims to reduce packaging waste, improve recyclability, increase the use of recycled content and promote more circular packaging systems, with additional requirements introduced progressively until 2030, when all packaging placed on the EU market must be recyclable. As industry adapts to meet these ambitions, several of the innovations needed to comply with the new rules were developed years in advance through CBE JU-funded research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBE JU has supported 26 projects in the packaging sector, developing nearly 70 innovative packaging solutions. Through its funding programme, CBE JU is investing in innovations that address many of the key objectives of the PPWR. Projects are developing safe and sustainable- by-design packaging, improving recyclability through product design, advancing bio-based alternatives to fossil-based materials, and increasing the recovery and recycled content of bio- based plastics through better sorting and recycling technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018The PPWR sets ambitious objectives for Europe’s packaging sector but delivering them requires\u00a0more than regulation. It calls for\u00a0collaboration across the entire value chain to develop, validate\u00a0and scale innovative solutions. At CBE JU, we bring together\u00a0researchers, SMEs and industry to\u00a0de-risk breakthrough technologies and accelerate their path to the market, helping ensure that\u00a0Europe’s regulatory ambitions are matched by industrial innovation\u2019, said\u00a0Nicol\u00f3 Giacomuzzi-Moore, CBE JU\u2019s Executive Director<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The examples below show how these innovations are already preparing Europe’s packaging sector for the implementation of the new Regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • TERRIFIC\u00a0project<\/strong>, coordinated by\u00a0Novamont, in Italy, is developing the next generation\u00a0bio-based food packaging, combining\u00a0renewable raw materials with innovative packaging\u00a0designs. The project is setting up a first-of-its-kind multipurpose biorefinery to\u00a0produce the\u00a0bio-based building blocks needed for industrial-scale production.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • In the Netherlands,\u00a0PEFerence<\/strong>\u00a0successfully established the world’s first commercial-scale\u00a0FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) flagship\u00a0plant, creating a new European value chain for the\u00a0industrial production of bio-based chemicals and materials. The facility now\u00a0produces\u00a0FDCA, the key building block for polyethylene furanoate (PEF), enabling the manufacture\u00a0of a wide range of high-value\u00a0products, including bottles, films, fibres, textiles, coatings and\u00a0cosmetic packaging. By demonstrating production at industrial\u00a0scale, the project is paving\u00a0the way for replacing fossil-based PET with a fully recyclable, 100% bio-based alternative\u00a0across\u00a0multiple sectors.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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    “The future of packaging is not a choice between circularity and biobased, but the\u00a0combination of both,” said Ingrid Goumans, Director\u00a0of Public Affairs and Sustainability at\u00a0Avantium<\/strong>, PEFerence project. “The PPWR sets an important direction by promoting\u00a0recyclability\u00a0and recycled content, and projects like PEFerence demonstrate how\u00a0innovative biobased materials can contribute to those goals. The\u00a0next step is scaling these\u00a0innovative biobased materials in a circular manner, alongside recycling, because a truly\u00a0circular economy\u00a0can only be achieved when we keep carbon in circulation and\u00a0progressively move away from fossil sources.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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    • MoeBIOS<\/strong>\u00a0is developing integrated solutions to improve the sorting, conditioning and\u00a0upcycling of mixed bioplastic waste across\u00a0the packaging, textiles and agricultural plastics\u00a0sectors, increasing the availability of high-quality recycled materials. This will help\u00a0support\u00a0the implementation of the PPWR by improving the quality and supply of recycled feedstock\u00a0needed to meet recycled\u00a0content targets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • CelluWiz\u00a0<\/strong>developed fully cellulose-based food packaging that combines high barrier\u00a0performance with recyclability,\u00a0compostability and biodegradability, replacing conventional\u00a0multi-material packaging that is difficult to recycle.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • PROSPER<\/strong>\u00a0is strengthening\u00a0Extended Producer Responsibility\u00a0schemes through digital\u00a0tools and improved data management,\u00a0helping optimise packaging waste collection and\u00a0support higher-quality material recovery. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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      “Even the most sustainable packaging\u00a0can only\u00a0fulfil its potential if it is effectively collected, sorted and recycled. PROSPER focuses on\u00a0making those systems more\u00a0efficient through digitalisation, helping valuable materials stay\u00a0in circulation for longer”, said\u00a0Steven De Meester, from the\u00a0Center\u00a0for Sustainable\u00a0Chemistry, Prosper project.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

      These projects demonstrate that implementing the PPWR is not only about complying with new\u00a0legislation. It is also an\u00a0opportunity to accelerate innovation, strengthen European industrial\u00a0competitiveness, expand the market for sustainable bio-based solutions and respond to growing\u00a0consumer demand for packaging that is more circular, recyclable and environmentally\u00a0responsible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/div>\n\n\n\n

      About CBE JU<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      The\u00a0Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking\u00a0is a \u20ac2 billion public-private\u00a0partnership between the\u00a0European Union and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC), funding\u00a0research, innovation and demonstration projects that\u00a0accelerate the transition to a sustainable,\u00a0circular bio-based economy in Europe. CBE JU has so far invested a total of \u20ac1.4\u00a0billion in 243\u00a0projects. The public funding comes from the Horizon Europe R&I programme. Each euro of EU\u00a0funding has\u00a0triggered more than 3 euros in private investments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      As the first provisions of the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)\u00a0begin to apply across the European\u00a0Union, the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking\u00a0(CBE JU) is highlighting EU-funded innovations already helping\u00a0industry prepare for the\u00a0transition to a more circular packaging. The PPWR is the most significant reform to European packaging legislation in decades, replacing the previous Packaging and Packaging […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":179678,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"CBE JU has supported 26 projects in the packaging sector, developing nearly 70 innovative\u00a0packaging solutions","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[16380,11270,5847,26673,7105,23180,10453],"supplier":[742,19472,28298,24630],"class_list":["post-179646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-biobased","tag-biodegradability","tag-bioplastics","tag-cellulosebased","tag-packaging","tag-packagingwaste","tag-recycling","supplier-avantium-technologies-bv","supplier-circular-bio-based-europe-joint-undertaking-cbe-ju","supplier-novamont-2","supplier-peference"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179646"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179689,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179646\/revisions\/179689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179646"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=179646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}