The UK\u2019s compostable packaging market is poised to increase tenfold by 2025, according to a new report commissioned by the Biomass Biorefinery Network (BBNet) and authored by consultancy Ricardo Energy & Environment (@Ricardo_AEA).<\/p>\n
Current estimates suggest that there are around 10,000 tonnes of compostable packaging already on the UK market. Yet, BBNet\u2019s (@BBNet_NIBB\u00a0)\u200f Plastics in the Bioeconomy report predicts that this market has the potential to expand tenfold by 2025 to more than 100,000 tonnes, depending on the degree of market uptake. This could provide an economic benefit to the UK\u2019s bioeconomy in excess of \u00a3267 million per annum.<\/p>\n
According to BBNet, Plastics in the Bioeconomy is the first published comprehensive research into the current and potential future size of the UK\u2019s fast-emerging compostable packaging market.<\/p>\n
The report highlighted how plastic can often become too contaminated with food waste to be sent for recycling. When this is the case it needs to be sent for disposal either incineration or landfill. However, the report maintained that this presents an opportunity for the compostable packaging market. It stated that promoting compostable packaging will divert waste from landfill and producing compost from food waste would return organic matter to the soil \u201conce fully broken down\u201d.<\/p>\n
Life-cycle analysis
\nElsewhere, the report found that low-density polyethylene (LDPE) did not perform well when contaminated with food waste in relation to its \u201cend-of-life\u201d. The report stated: \u201cIf the LDPE is contaminated with food waste and cannot be recycled, then using compostable polylactic acid (PLA) for packaging results in over 50% less CO2e being emitted compared to traditional LDPE.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the report also acknowledged that the transition towards compostable packaging requires whole system support. Most importantly, it maintained that the UK government would need to provide policy and regulatory support to drive change, which will involve investment in infrastructure and collections, public education and behavioural change.<\/p>\n
The report also maintained that common plastic packaging items such as cotton buds, plastic bags, organic sacks and confectionery wrappers are already available in compostable packaging form.<\/p>\n
In relation to feedstocks, the report stated that the UK has an abundance of renewable bioresources that could supply the biochemicals needed to produce low-carbon biopolymers for the compostable packaging market in a sustainable manner. This includes potato waste, sugar beet waste, maize waste, barley straw, oat straw and wheat straw, among other materials.<\/p>\n
The BBNet report also highlighted how the growth in compostable packaging complemented the UK\u2019s organic recycling infrastructure and supported the business case to increase the future capacity to meet a UK \u2018Plastics Pact\u2019 recycling target. The Plastic Pact is a collaborative circular economy initiative between government, industry and producers, delivered by the UK\u2019s Waste and Resources Action Programme.<\/p>\n
The Pact has set a 70% target for effective recycling or composting of plastics packaging with a view to achieving an average\u00a0of 30% recycled content across all plastic packaging by 2025.<\/p>\n
Professor Simon\u00a0McQueen-Mason\u00a0from the University of York and Director of the BBNet Network, said: \u201cOne of the main enablers behind the potential growth of the UK compostables market is the availability of sustainable bioresource feedstocks.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur research found that the UK has an abundance of renewable bioresources to supply the biochemicals needed to produce a range of biopolymers. In fact, when compared to the proposed growth of compostable packaging there is approximately 100 times more bioresources available in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul Mines, CEO of Biome Bioplastics and member of BBNet\u2019s Management Board, added: \u201cThe report provides an important roadmap for the ongoing bioplastic industry investment in capacity, raw materials and research and development in compostable plastics. It also gives an indication of likely flows for both the waste and resource recovery industry and local authorities as they reconfigure collection and treatment models to accommodate compostable materials.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis report gives, for the first time, a\u00a0realistic idea of the scope of\u00a0compostable plastic packaging in the UK,\u201d David Newman, Managing Director of the Bio-Based and Biodegradable Industries Association (BBIA).<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cIf policies are aligned to the declared ambitions of the\u00a0UK Plastics Pact and the government\u2019s intentions to eliminate non-recyclable plastics and stop food waste going to landfill, then compostables can play a critical role in the nexus between packaging and food waste recycling which traditional plastics are simply unsuitable for. This is good for the UK economy, good for UK jobs and great for the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
BBNet is a \u201cPhase II\u201d biotechnology and biological sciences research council network in industrial biotechnology and bioenergy (BBSRC NIBB). BBNet\u2019s remit encompasses bioprocessing, bio-catalysis and fermentation of biomass and will embrace chemical conversion, engineering and combinations of these processes with thermochemical and other technologies to produce fuels, chemicals and materials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The UK\u2019s compostable packaging market is poised to increase tenfold by 2025, according to a new report commissioned by the Biomass Biorefinery Network (BBNet) and authored by consultancy Ricardo Energy & Environment (@Ricardo_AEA). Current estimates suggest that there are around 10,000 tonnes of compostable packaging already on the UK market. Yet, BBNet\u2019s (@BBNet_NIBB\u00a0)\u200f Plastics in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[5847,12239,7105],"supplier":[15617,3452,1315],"class_list":["post-63273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bioplastics","tag-compostability","tag-packaging","supplier-bio-based-and-biodegradable-industries-association-bbia","supplier-biome-bioplastics","supplier-university-of-york-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63273","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=63273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63273\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63273"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=63273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}