Publications

In 2021, EU consumers spent €1,551 billion on food and drink, underscoring the sector’s economic significance. The food and drink industry, with a turnover of €1,112 billion in 2023, leads EU manufacturing and global exports. However, its reliance on plastic packaging has led to significant environmental challenges. The average European produced around 189 kg of packaging waste in 2021 – a little more than half a kilo per day per citizen – amounting to almost 85 million tonnes in the EU, with plastics constituting 19%.1 Despite progress, the sector faces substantial hurdles in achieving EU sustainability targets. This white paper by the PRESERVE, UPLIFT, upPE-T, BioSupPack, and MoeBIOS projects, funded by Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, and their European partnerships - the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI-JU) and the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) - focuses on advancing sustainable packaging solutions. These projects aim to upcycle various food and drink packaging materials into new, improved ones by 2030. This white paper not only highlights the innovative technologies and materials developed by these four projects in circularity design, upcycling technologies and end-of-life options but also provides targeted recommendations for EU policymakers and key stakeholders for the future. These include investing in specialised collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure, promoting clear labelling and standards, and harmonising regulatory frameworks. It also emphasises the need for enhanced public education and public awareness campaigns on sustainable packaging. Overall, achieving these goals requires a collaborative effort among researchers, industry leaders, policymakers, and the public to drive innovation and foster a resilient, sustainable packaging sector.

The PRESERVE Innovation Roadmap outlines the strategic advancements and achievements of the PRESERVE project, a Horizon 2020-funded initiative focused on transforming the sustainability of packaging materials. Key features of the roadmap include detailed insights into breakthroughs such as protein-based and PHA coatings, enzymatic delamination processes, and Decision Support Systems for optimizing material pathways. The roadmap also highlights the challenges of scaling these innovations and achieving market readiness, addressing economic, regulatory, and logistical hurdles. Through collaboration with 23 partners across 10 countries, the roadmap reflects the interdisciplinary approach required to drive meaningful change in the industry. This document serves as a guide for stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers, offering actionable recommendations to support the transition to sustainable packaging. It bridges the gap between research and commercialization, presenting a comprehensive framework to integrate biobased materials and circular economy practices into market-ready solutions. The roadmap lays the groundwork for a future where packaging aligns with environmental and societal goals.

Proceedings of the Conference "Innovations on Sustainable Materials for Textiles, Coatings, Films, and other Wide Use Applications" held Düsseldorf, 11 May 2023, in-person and online. Organised by European Bioplastics, ENCO Consulting and AIMPLAS. All the videos of the conference are on YouTube.

The depletion of fossil resources and the growing demand for plastic waste reduction has put industries and academic researchers under pressure to develop increasingly sustainable packaging solutions that are both functional and circularly designed. In this review, we provide an overview of the fundamentals and recent advances in biobased packaging materials, including new materials and techniques for their modification as well as their end-of-life scenarios. We also discuss the composition and modification of biobased films and multilayer structures, with particular attention to readily available drop-in solutions, as well as coating techniques. Moreover, we discuss end-of-life factors, including sorting systems, detection methods, composting options, and recycling and upcycling possibilities. Finally, regulatory aspects are pointed out for each application scenario and end-of-life option. Moreover, we discuss the human factor in terms of consumer perception and acceptance of upcycling.