Interpack live: Bioplastic leaders fight off feedstock shortage and compostability concerns

08 May 2023 --- At Interpack 2023, the future of bioplastics and compostable packaging solutions is taking center stage, with a range of industry experts highlighting how non-fossil fuel-based materials can be incorporated into product designs to drive down emissions, reduce waste and help circularize the global economy.

Speaking to PackagingInsights, Futamura’s sustainability manager for the company’s cellulose films division Dr. Lucy Cowton pinpointed its NatureFlex line of bio-based flexible films composed of wood-based pulp from plantation forests. 

“If you look at the issues we have at the moment, particularly with flexible films, recyclability is a big trend but it won’t solve all of the problems we have, particularly with flexibles – they’re not easy to collect, they’re not easy to recycle and we think compostability is a better solution,” she says.

“One of the challenges we often get asked about concerns the supply of raw materials. We actually use forestry crops and there isn’t an issue in that sense and I don’t think there is an issue for agricultural crops either because it’s such a tiny percentage of the amount of overall land used for producing bioplastics.” 

Dr. Lucy Cowton and Amaia Cowan representing Futamura at Interpack 2023.Innova Market Insights named “Plastics circularization” and “Renewable rebellion” as two of its top trends for 2023, noting that geopolitical uncertainties and fluctuations in the price of oil and gas are driving increased interest in bioplastics, compostable and other renewable solutions. 

According to the market researcher, F&B product launches that feature either a biodegradable or compostable claim have almost tripled since 2018, with categories such as tea, coffee and confectionery accounting for nearly half of these launches.

Feedstocks concerns 
Meanwhile, the issue of land usage for supplying bio-based feedstocks in bioplastic production shouldn’t concern consumers or industry stakeholders, according to Derek Atkinson, vice president of sales and business development at Total Corbion PLA. 

“There is an implication that there is a shortage of feedstocks or that if we use food substances, we are taking them out of the mouth of a starving child. The reality is there is more than enough food in the world to feed everyone but there is a food waste issue,” he says. 

“In the US, around 50% of food is wasted. If we adjust our food production processes to reduce waste, it’s not even a thought as to whether there is enough feedstock.” 

Representatives of GO!PHA, European Bioplastics, NatureWorks PLA and TotalEnergies Corbion discuss the future of bioplastics.Leah Ford, senior global marketing and communications manager at Natureworks PLA, agrees that concerns over land use make little sense. 

“I did a little back-of-the-envelope math and figured that if you converted all 380 million metric tons of annual plastics usage to bioplastics using European Bioplastics land use data, you would only use 13% of arable land in the world,” she says. 

“We know that bioplastics are not going to replace every type of plastic out there. The conversion of sugars to lactic acid and other chemical monomers is incredibly efficient and therefore it makes it easy and you don’t need a lot of sugar for conversion when you’re using sugar cane or corn starch.” 

Skepticism and food waste 
Futamura’s NatureFlex line is designed to help deal with the issue of handling food and packaging in a single waste stream. 

“If you look at the amount of food waste there is, it needs to be collected and there should be legislation allowing compostable packaging to be collected with food waste and sent for composting,” Cowton asserts. 

Skepticism around compostable materials is holding back legislative change, she adds. 

“There is skepticism around whether compostables will compost in reality or generate microplastics. There are issues with people thinking they could contaminate the recycling streams.”

“We would argue against all of those [concerns] – compostable materials do biodegrade, if they’re certified then they’re fully compostable, they don’t generate microplastics and in terms of contamination there are good separation techniques.” 

While the recently proposed revisions to the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive made allowances for packaging applications to be compostable in industrial composting facilities, including tea bags, filter coffee pods and pads, fruit stickers and lightweight plastic carrier bags, mandatory legislation has not yet reached other industry applications. 

Cowton says Futamara remains hopeful that legislation will continue to evolve to support bioplastic pioneers. 

Louis Gore-Langton