Germany has increased the R&D budget for renewable bio-materials. The German government will almost double its budget for research and development in naturally re-occurring materials next year, said the ministry for consumer protection, nutrition and agriculture.

Plastics & Rubber Weekly reports that the ministry‘‘s parliamentary secretary of state Matthias Berninger said the government assumes bioplastics prices will equalise "within the foreseeable future" with those of materials made from fossil resources. He announced the budget increase at a meeting of the IK plastics packaging industry association‘‘s compostable products committee last month.

Participants at the meeting gave reasons for the poor acceptance of bioplastics in Germany compared with other countries. These included the typical German approach to innovations requiring perfect solutions, and the difficulty of waste separation. Berninger agreed that educating people in correct sorting of used bioplastic packaging into compositing bins appears to be too expensive, as trials in Kassel had shown. But he added too much attention should not be paid to composting to the detriment of energy recovery.

The government sees no conflict in the production of bioplastics from fossil materials, Berninger stated, as it helps to make way for the use of naturally re-occurring materials