USABLE PACKAGING project reaches new milestone with first practical application of bio-based compostable product. Spanish family enjoys meals using re-usable plates made from new PHA compound material. A family in Spain has been the first to use a new bio-based, re-usable and compostable plate manufactured as an outcome of the Read more…
In recent years, an increasing number of studies and reports have advanced the global understanding of the challenge posed by ocean plastic pollution. But most leaders across industry, government, and civil society have noted a critical gap: an evidence-based roadmap to describe the pathways available and to foster convergent action. Read more…
ONE YEAR OF PROJECT WORK AN UPDATE FROM THE PARTNERS. On 2 July 2020, we hosted a webinar to provide an update on the project, one year from its launch in June 2019. USABLE Packaging aims to remove the barriers to market uptake by providing a favorable technical and economic framework to bio-based Read more…
COMPOSTABLE STRAWS UNVEILED AS FIRST OUTCOME OF THE USABLE PACKAGING PROJECT After unveiling compostable straws as the first outcome of the USABLE PACKAGING project, Spanish project partners Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) and stakeholders OCENIC RESINS, also based in Spain, have announced the production of compostable cutlery as the Read more…
COMPOSTABLE STRAWS UNVEILED AS FIRST OUTCOME OF THE USABLE PACKAGING PROJECT The first demonstrator developed as an outcome of the USABLE PACKAGING project into disposable packaging components has been unveiled as a compostable straw made of a PHA polymer material. The solution was developed by project partner Consejo Superior de Read more…
On 3rd February 2020, the Usable Packaging project featured on the Valencia television channel À Punt, with a TV crew visiting Usable Packaging partner Bioinicia and interviewing Usable Packaging Project Co-ordinator and BioInicia founder Prof Jose Maria Lagarón, as well as Pablo Calvo, CEO of Ocenic Resins. The report explains Read more…
In 2018, the EU published a strategy to address the issues around plastics for up to the year 2030, saying that: “Too often the way plastics are currently produced, used and discarded fails to capture the economic benefits of a more ‘circular’ approach and harms the environment. There is an Read more…
There are four criteria required for a waste material to obtain end-of-waste status:[1] the substance or object is commonly used for specific purposes; there is an existing market or demand for the substance or object; the use is lawful (the substance or object fulfils the technical requirements for the specific Read more…
Only compostable packaging materials adhering to the EN13432 standard can be considered ”biodegradable” in the context of the Waste Framework Directive 2008/92, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 96/82 and the Essential Requirements and additionally the Directive on Single Use Plastics (article 3, 16). Packaging materials adhering to the EN13432 standard Read more…
Biowaste collections should allow the simultaneous collection of compostable packaging, but before biowaste is submitted to recovery, it needs to be recognised as a permitted waste input. Food waste should be defined as per the Waste Framework Directive Article 3 point b.4.: “bio-waste” means biodegradable garden and park waste, Read more…