Biomass

European Bioplastics (EUBP) welcomes the European Commission’s new Bioeconomy Strategy, which confirms – more clearly than ever – that biobased plastics are a strategic pillar of Europe’s future industrial base. Additionally, the revised Strategy recognises the sector as a lead market in the transition away from fossil-based materials, acknowledging its potential to scale up the EU bioeconomy

Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) welcomes the EU Bioeconomy Strategy’s vision of a bioeconomy that “strengthens resilience, ensures food security, and protects Europe’s ecosystems”. However, while the strategy presents opportunities to advance Europe’s bioeconomy, it currently lacks the ambitious targets and safeguards needed to deliver real environmental and social impact.

Today, the European Commission adopted its EU Bioeconomy Strategy, setting out new measures to make Europe’s use of biological resources more sustainable, resilient, and circular.

Today’s revised Bioeconomy Strategy makes some headway but falls short on giving a clear vision for a European bioeconomy that operates within planetary boundaries, says ECOS. This risks continuing the degradation of resources (such as forests, soils, farmland, and water systems) instead of steering the bioeconomy towards resilience and circularity.

The new Bioeconomy Strategy released today by the European Commission lacks the ambition needed to align Europe’s resource use with the ecological boundaries of our planet. While focusing on scattered product innovation efforts instead of tackling the root causes of nature, pollution, and climate crises, the Commission has missed a crucial opportunity, warns the European Environmental Bureau (EEB).

Today, the Commission adopted a new Strategic Framework for a Competitive and Sustainable EU Bioeconomy, charting a way forward to build a clean, competitive and resilient European economy.

A comprehensive new report published today by BB-REG-NET reveals that certified biodegradable plastics offer a viable pathway to reducing long-term microplastic accumulation in the environment, challenging concerns that these materials simply accelerate plastic fragmentation.

A new report from the Methane Matters coalition – a consortium of civil society organisations – finds that The EU has handed the biogas industry billions of euros of public money to expand, without ensuring adequate environmental controls.

The European Parliament gave its final green light to new measures to prevent and reduce waste from food and textiles across the EU.