According to the Technical Report 15392, drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/TC 249 of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) in August 2009, ‘bio-based plastics’ are plastics derived from biomass. ‘Plastics’, as laid down in EN ISO 472, are materials that contain as an essential ingredient a high polymer and which at some stage in their processing into finished products can be shaped by flow

Kabasci, S., 2014, Bio-Based Plastics: Materials and Applications, First Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published.

Source category: Scientific & Technical Literature

Referring to plastics as ‘biobased’ points to the raw materials, or feedstock, used for their
production. While conventional plastics are made from fossil resources (oil and natural gas),
biobased plastics are made from biomass. The biomass currently originates mainly from
plants grown specifically to be used as feedstock to substitute fossil resources, such as
sugarcane, cereal crops, oil crops or non-food sources like wood. Other sources are organic
waste and by-products, such as used cooking oil, bagasse and tall oil. Plastics can be fully or
partially made from biobased feedstock. 

COM(2022) 682 final

Source category: EC Policy Documents

Bio-based plastics are made out of polymers derived from non-petroleum, biological sources. They include plant and microbial-based polymers and can be engineered to be either biodegradable or non-biodegradable.