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24 September 2026, Rethink the circularity of your products!  From Biodegradability to Recyclability

24. September 2026

24 September 2026, from 11:20 – 12:50  

Rethink the circularity of your products!  
From Biodegradability to Recyclability: Innovators prove you can have both.

A workshop at the Renewable Materials Conference 

A challenging legal framework is asking packaging producers to rethink their products. The EmpCo Directive makes standalone ‘biodegradable’ claims illegal without verified evidence of excellent environmental performance. The PPWR mandates all packaging be recyclable by 2030 and at scale by 2035, with a critical review of bio-based plastics set for 2028. Together, these create both an obligation and a strategic opening for the bioplastics sector. 

Biodegradability alone is no longer enough. It was a first-generation promise: “this won’t persist in the environment”. But the regulatory and market landscape of 2026 demands a second-generation promise: “this stays in the loop”. 

Aim

This workshop offers packaging producers the latest innovation results, key companies working on bioplastics applications, and EU-funded projects which demonstrate that bioplastics can meet recyclability and biodegradability requirements.  

Participants will leave with a clear picture of what the research and innovation can offer, and how to adapt to a challenging legal framework.  

​Our speakers
  • Jan Pels, TORWASH, ReBioCycle project
  • Gerrit Gobius du Sart, TotalEnergies Corbion, GRECO and ReBioCycle projects
  • Sergio Clemente Castro, ITENE, MoeBIOS project
  • Steven Verstichel, Normec OWS, Be-UP project
Registration

You need to be registered for the conference to attend the workshop.

https://renewable-materials.eu/registration/

We also ask you to register for this specific workshop on Eventbrite.

 

Discover more about the projects

Be-UP: https://www.beup-project.eu/

GRECO: https://www.greco-euproject.eu/

MoeBIOS: https://moebios.eu/

ReBioCycle: https://rebiocycle.eu/

 

Acknowledgment funding 

Be-UP and GRECO are funded by the European Union. MoeBIOS and ReBioCycle are funded by the Circular Bio-Based Europe Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union, the CBE, or HADEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.