The European Bioplastics industry representation welcomes the regulation concerning bioplastic drink bottles established in the 5th Amendment of the German Packaging Directive.

Environmental Expert reports that the amendment was passed on 4 April 2008. The regulation for bioplastic bottles will come into effect on 1 January 2009. These bottles ‘‘ produced from at least 75 percent renewable resources‘‘ will be exempted from the compulsory deposit for single use drink bottles until 31 December 2012. Manufacturers must however participate in a dual system of recycling for the bottles.

‘‘Through this regulation, the Federal Government is encouraging the use of renewable resources in beverages packaging and therewith a substantial innovation from the plastics industry‘‘, states Dr Harald Kaeb, Chairman of European Bioplastics. ‘‘This provides strong support for the market introduction of bioplastics‘‘.

Retailers and the beverage industry will benefit from the uncomplicated handling. This will provide considerable stimulation for the expansion of the bioplastics market in Germany. Thus the cost-intensive establishment of sorting and recycling systems can be driven forward in line with increasing market size.

During the introductory phase, collection and recycling is proposed via the dual system, that is, using the yellow recycling sack/bin. Jöran Reske, European Bioplastics Vice-Spokesperson and responsible for environmental issues, commented, ‘‘This will mean the bottles will generally be fed into energy recovery, and based on the fact that they were created from renewable resources, will contribute to a reduction in CO2 emissions‘‘.

Approximately a dozen beverages are currently sold in bioplastic bottles worldwide. In order to handle rapidly growing demand, several companies from the bioplastics industry are at the point of making substantial investments into larger production plants.