Biobased plastic – Sustainable sourcing and content: Specific Request Nr 13 under Framework Contract No ENV/F1/FRA/2019/0001 Final Report

Biobased plastics are partly or wholly derived from biomass and offer a direct decoupling from traditional fossil-based feedstocks. Due to higher feedstock prices and less mature supply chains biobased plastics are currently more expensive than fossil-based plastics (by 20% to >100%), which has so far limited their uptake to only about 1% of the global plastics market. There are a number of key challenges that the EU currently faces regards biobased plastics, including a lack of standardised methodologies and criteria for assessing sustainability, a lack of a legislative mechanism to clarify the use of biomass in the materials sector, and a lack of agreed labelling and certification criteria for biobased content. The objective of this study is to support the Commission's work on a policy framework for biobased plastics, in particular, to identify policy options that could ensure the promotion of bio-based plastics on the EU market that result in genuine environmental benefits. An inventory of methods used for measuring biobased content and corresponding certification/labelling systems is compiled, including a review of the drivers and barriers. Sustainability criteria relevant for biobased plastics are developed following review of relevant standards, voluntary certification schemes and studies. Moreover, an overview is provided of indicators for measuring environmental sustainability at product level and insights are generated on the drivers and barriers of application of sustainability criteria. A quantitative and qualitative baseline scenario related to the future use of biobased plastics in the EU is developed and evaluated. Potential policy options to help address the problem are developed and refined using stakeholder engagement. The potential impacts of the policy options are assessed and the results are used to compare the policy options and identify their relative strengths and weaknesses. Finally, recommendations regarding the preferred set of options are provided.