The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation has begun to take effect. The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking is highlighting projects it has funded to help industry prepare.
The regulation is the biggest overhaul of European packaging law in decades. It replaces the previous directive with rules that apply directly across all member states. The goal is to cut packaging waste and boost recyclability. Recycled content requirements will expand progressively until 2030. By then, all packaging placed on the EU market must be recyclable.
CBE JU has backed 26 projects in the packaging sector. Together, they’ve produced nearly 70 innovative packaging solutions. The projects cover several areas. These include sustainable-by-design packaging, improved recyclability, and bio-based alternatives to fossil materials.
Nicoló Giacomuzzi-Moore, CBE JU’s executive director, said meeting the regulation’s goals takes more than rules. He said it requires collaboration across the value chain to develop and scale new technologies.
Several projects show this work in action. TERRIFIC, led by Novamont in Italy, is developing next-generation bio-based food packaging. It’s building a first-of-its-kind biorefinery to produce the necessary building blocks at industrial scale.
In the Netherlands, PEFerence has opened the world’s first commercial-scale FDCA plant. FDCA is a key building block for polyethylene furanoate, a bio-based alternative to PET. Ingrid Goumans of Avantium said combining circularity with bio-based materials is the future of packaging.
Other projects target different gaps. MoeBIOS is improving sorting and upcycling of mixed bioplastic waste. CelluWiz has developed fully cellulose-based food packaging that’s both recyclable and compostable. PROSPER is strengthening producer responsibility schemes through better data tools.
Together, these projects show how early investment in bio-based innovation is helping European industry meet the new regulation’s ambitious targets.
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