Our relationship with plastic is ambivalent – we love the convenience, and hate the environmental impact. PLASTiCE aims to change this by promoting research and commercialisation of bioplastics, a new kind of packaging that is biodegradable or made entirely of renewable resources.
- 12 December 2014
The PLASTiCE project is a consistent promoter of unbiased information on bioplastics benefiting both industry and consumers in the respective domestic markets. Through the certification system established within the project, cooperation between us and other companies in the project countries will be facilitated.
The impact of plastic packaging on the environment is devastating. Made from fossil resources, they not only consume substantial natural resources during the production process; once discarded they also fill our landfills for centuries.
The PLASTiCE project promotes replacing some of these fossil resources by sustainable, biodegradable or renewable resources. The project encourages the use of plastics with improved sustainability by promoting bioplastics across the entire value chain in Central Europe. From production to waste management, the end result is the full integration of plastics into natural material cycles.
Information and advice
A challenge to achieving this in Central Europe is a lack of information. To change this, PLASTiCE prepares unbiased information on such key issues as biodegradation, standardisation, certification, and bio-based content. All documents are available in multiple languages and distributed via its website, events, social media platforms and one-on-one meetings with targeted stakeholders.
To enhance these efforts, the project also created a transnational advisory board designed to collect a comprehensive and objective suite of information geared towards increasing understanding about sustainable plastics. The scheme, called “Bioplastics – Opportunity for the Future”, gives particular focus to the opportunities that bioplastics bring to all segments of the value chain.
Bringing research and industry together
The key to the project’s success is facilitating cooperation between research and industry. To accomplish this, the project established integrated, comprehensive research and development support for industries working to create different applications for bioplastics. The result of this cooperation was the publication of numerous case studies, which not only facilitate wider uptake of opportunities offered by bioplastics, but also serve as a roadmap for future actions. In the near future, these actions are expected to lead to the commercialisation of bioplastic packaging.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “PLASTiCE” is EUR 2 522 178 , of which the EU’s European Regional Development Fund is contributing EUR 2 112 448,30 from the Operational Programme “Central Europe” for the 2007 to 2013 programming period.