Discover the Biorepack newsletter

Promoting the recycling of compostable bioplastics by working together with all stakeholders, including citizens, municipalities, service companies and processing plant operators, in a synergy that generates benefits for the environment, the climate and the economy. This is the mission of Biorepack, the consortium that includes over 200 companies, and which has decided to use this newsletter to open a new communications channel with its vast audience.

“Biorepack is a concrete circular economy project that puts Italy at the forefront of organic recycling of OFMSW and similar compostable materials,” said Biorepack President Marco Versari. “This newsletter was created with the aim of making ourselves known to the public, establishing collaborations, discussing current and future initiatives, sharing best practices, gathering opinions and providing insights, and ultimately creating shared value with public authority stakeholders, policy makers and government agencies.”

Recognised by the Ministerial Decree of 16/10/2020, Biorepack is the world’s only consortium dedicated to the recycling of biodegradable and compostable plastic packaging certified according to harmonised standard EN 13432, which can be sent for organic recycling together with domestic food waste and turned into compost after industrial processing.

Its aim is to enable the bioplastics sector to optimise management of organic waste recycling by promoting the proper disposal of packaging together with the separate collection of household food waste and ensure correct labelling and recognition. Organic recycling makes it possible to produce compost, a fertile soil which can help combat desertification and soil erosion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

On 22 October 2021 Biorepack signed an agreement with ANCI for the development of separate collection and the organic recycling of compostable bioplastic packaging waste.
“To date we have received over 300 applications under the agreement, covering some 4,000 Italian municipalities. An extraordinary success when you consider that we have already reached over 56% of the Italian population in little more than a year since we started operations. We expect the consortium to soon achieve full national coverage, using all possible tools to support the separate collection and recycling of compostable bioplastic packaging, including communication tools,” said Gino Schiona, General Manager of Biorepack.

The certified bioplastic packaging sector makes contributions on several levels: it offers an innovative model that combines extended producer responsibility (EPR) with circular material flows through the use of bio-based resources that do not compete with food production, rationalising the use of raw materials, limiting the production of unsorted waste sent to landfill and, finally, stimulating economic, social and environmental development.

The remarkable dynamism and growth margins of the bioplastics sector have been demonstrated by data released by Plastic Consult: in 2020 there were 278 companies in the sector in Italy, up from 143 in 2012, including producers of basic chemicals and intermediates, producers and distributors of granules and primary and secondary processing operators. Over an eight-year period, the number of people employed by companies in the sector increased from 1,280 to 2,775 while total turnover rose from €367 million to €815 million, with an average annual growth rate of more than 10%.