Europe’s packaging sector is under mounting pressure to become more sustainable. Brand owners and retailers face tighter regulation, higher consumer expectations, and growing scrutiny of the environmental footprint of packaging materials. Against this backdrop, interest in fibre-based packaging is accelerating rapidly. Once seen as a niche alternative, it is increasingly viewed as a core component of the wider bioeconomy and of Europe’s circular-economy ambitions.

The biobased economy in Europe is at a tipping point. This became clear during Tech Tour Biobased Industries on 13 November in Wuppertal, the annual event that brings entrepreneurs into contact with investors.

The market for biobased packaging is growing steadily, but for now remains stuck at a share of only one to two per cent. That is the message repeatedly heard in the bioplastics sector. ‘Without quotas or incentive regulations, the market will not take off,’ warned Dirk Carrez, director of the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC), during a recent webinar on bio-based plastic packaging. Yet something is happening. New materials, projects, and investments show that bioplastics are coming of age – provided Europe dares to take action.