INNOVATION | BIO-BASED PLASTICS


surpassed their qualifications for stereochemical purity to make PLA, and Curley reported that further collaboration is planned.


Right: The BioSupPack project


developed PHA and PHB from brewery waste for use in packaging


Sorting pilots The PROSPER project is addressing the challenges of bio-based plastics sorting and recycling in Europe with several pilot programs. In one trial, municipal light weight packaging waste was “spiked” with PLA from Futerro and starch-based blends and other biopolyesters from producer Biotec and sorted at the National Test Centre for Circular Plastics (NTCP) in the Netherlands. NTCP reported that it was successful in sorting the bio-based plastics. In a pilot coordinated by French waste manage- ment company Suez, a bio-based plastic fraction was separated from a packaging waste stream, sent to NTCP for pre-treat- ment, and chemically recycled by Futerro using its propri- etary depolymerization technology.


In another pilot study


coordinated by Italian companies a2a (for sorta- tion) and bio-based plastics producer Novamont, plastics are sorted by optical technolo- gies, NIR sensors, and AI systems, and the material is chemically recycled by Novamont through depolymerization, the group reported. The third sortation pilot under the PROSPER


project is taking place in Spain and involves sortation by FCC Medio Ambiente and pretreat- ment and mechanical recycling by Envico Research in association with GCR. The ReBioCycle project, which began in October 2024 and runs through 2028, intends to demonstrate effective sorting and mechanical recycling of PLA and PHA, along with demonstrat- ing the recyclate use in real-world packaging. The project is coordinated by University College Dublin in Ireland, and the consortium includes Finland’s Sulapac, Novamont, TotalEnergies Corbion, Aimplas and others. The MoeBIOS project, running June 2024 to May 2028, aims to address bio-based plastics recycling in packaging, synthetic textiles, and agricultural plastic waste, covering sorting, condi- tioning, and developing end-products. The project is coordinated by the Instituto Tecnologico Del


14 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | April 2026


Embalaje, Transporte Y Logistica in Spain. The EU-funded GRECO project, launched in


2025, will develop novel PLA copolymers and coating for food packaging with “tailored biodeg- radability and recyclability”. The project is coordi- nated by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and involves a consortium from 14 Euro- pean countries. The group plans to use modelling tools to design the copolymers. “Significantly reducing carbon footprints, PLA’s


versatility, bio-based origin, and wide industrial availability make it a key enabler in addressing the performance and sustainability requirements set by the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regula- tion,” said Jenifer Mitja from TotalEnergies Corbion, which is a supporting member of the group. The consortium reported that it would test recyclability of the materials it develops with mechanical and chemical recycling in both open and closed-loop systems. The recently concluded EU-funded BioSupPack project, conducted by an 18-partner consortium over the past five years and coordinated by Aimplas, developed PHA and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) bio-based plastic from brewery waste for use in packaging. One of the


partners, SabioMaterials, developed PHB for rigid packaging


that is said to be fully biodegradable and mechanically and enzymatically recyclable. The materials were formulated for extrusion blow moulding and injection moulding and prototypes were demonstrated at industrial-scale production. One of the partners, IRIS, developed an NIR- based sorting prototype that was validated at the Aimplas recycling pilot plant, said Aimplas Packag- ing Cluster Leader, Rosa González Leyba. The prototype was able to sort the PHB packaging waste with an efficiency of around 95%. The sorting method allowed the recovery and collection of PHB for a subsequent enzymatic recycling process, which was demonstrated in the project research. The feasibility of mechanical recycling was also tested.


Post-use options Dubai, UAE-based Emirates Biotech launched its recyclable Embio product range of PLA in Novem- ber last year, including grades for rigid and flexible packaging, coated paper board, fibres, nonwo-


www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com


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