The production and use of bio-based food packaging in Europe is gaining momentum both on the materials and regulatory fronts, in order to reduce the environmental impact caused specially by single-use plastics. ECOSYSTEM tackles the use of agrifood waste crop such as berries and pruning as bio-based source to produce bioplastics mulching films as well as food and pharma packaging.
Plastic packaging plays a key role in our life since every marketable product is presented in a plastic wrapping, container or protection. Those plastic pieces are often discarded and they end up in landfills and oceans poisoning and degrading entire ecosystems. In order to reduce the environmental impact caused, specially by single-use plastics, the production and use of bio-based food and pharma packaging in Europe is gaining momentum both on the materials and regulatory fronts.
On the technical side, key polymers include Polylactic acid (PLA), Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), cellulose, lignocellulose, furfural and various starch- and agro-waste-derived blends.
Recent reviews highlight manufacturing issues such as brittleness, thermal instability and higher costs of bioplastics compared with fossil-based plastics (Materials, 2025). However, these studies also clearly underline the impact in terms of sustainability and recycling that the use of bio-based plastics can represent, emphasising the dual benefit of bio-based materials: reduction of the pressure on fossil reserves and the considerably lower greenhouse emissions registered in their production and use.
From the policy angle, Europe’s policy framework is pushing adoption: the EU Single‑Use Plastics Directive, the European Green Deal and circular‐economy strategies reinforce transition to bio-based and biodegradable packaging. Also, the Global bio-based plastic market forecasts are robust, being projected to considerably increase its annual growth rate in the period 2025-34, passing from a total of USD 10.5 billion in 2024 to 34.4 billion in 2034 (Globe Newswire, 2025). On the other hand, only in Europe, the biodegradable packaging segment alone is forecasted to reach about USD 6.48 billion by 2035 (Grand View HORIZON, 2024).
At the country level, Germany and the UK are the most advanced in the transition towards bio-based packaging use and production thanks to their robust recycling systems (Virtue Market Research, 2024) while Southern European countries are rapidly catching up (Food and Beverage Europe, 2025). In the case of Germany, being leading plastic producer in the EU with more than 20% of the total production, this transition is extremely relevant (Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews 2024).
In order to drive into a more circular and sustainable plastic-related economy, biological waste feedstocks are an important source of platform materials to be transformed into packaging solutions (CBE-JU, 2022). ECOSYSTEM tackles the use of agrifood waste crop such as berries and pruning as bio-based source for the obtention of cellulose, lignin and furfural-derived compounds via biorefinery processes. With these raw materials, aromatic and aliphatic monomers will be synthesized via mechanochemistry and white biotechnology in order to be further transformed into biopolyesters. Parallelly, active ingredients with bacterial and ethylene inhibition capacities will be developed also from natural resources. Finally, bioplastics mulching films as well as food and pharma packaging will be produced using the active ingredients and the biopolyesters previously synthesised and tested in real industrial conditions.
The research will be accompanied by end of life, reusability, biodegradability and recyclability testing for all the designed products; as well as it will be supported by a sustainability and environmental impact assessment. The ECOSYSTEM project is funded under Pathfinder programme (2025) and the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency.
References:
- Materials (2025). Design, new materials and production challenges of bioplastics-based food packaging. – Phil Rosenow, Carmen Fernandez-Ayuso, Pedro López-García and Luis Francisco Minguez-Enkovaara.
- GlobeNewswire (2025). Bio-based packaging market attains USD 34.4 billion by 2024 – Towards Packaging. – Precedence Research.
- WEBSITE: Grand View HORIZON (2024). Europe bio-based market size & outlook 2024-2033.
- WEBSITE: Virtue Market Research (2024). Europe biodegradable plastics market size (2024-2030).
- WEBSITE: Food and Beverages Europe (2025). Europe biodegradable packaging market is forecasted to reach USD 6.48 billion by 2035.
- Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and environment (2024). Challenges and opportunities toward a sustainable bio-based chemical sector in Europe. – Nariê Rinke, Jurjen Spekreijse and Francesco Cherubini.
- WEBSITE: CBE-JU (2022). Bio-based smart packaging tackles food waste.