Erthos Inc. is an advanced materials science startup, actively transforming bio based inputs into plant-powered alternatives for traditional plastics. Erthos is building a massively scalable platform for better materials, for a planet free from plastic pollution. Single-use products made with erthos materials are not only compatible with existing plastic manufacturing systems, but are also sustainably manufactured, and compostable at their end of life.

The erthos solution incorporates an entirely clean manufacturing process to develop and deploy materials which result in less energy, CO2 emissions, and water consumption throughout its full life cycle. The goal at erthos is to examine the industry from top to bottom, and find innovative solutions to address the root cause. Since being established in 2018, erthos has scaled its operations globally, filed multiple patents, and successfully validated their technology alongside multinational brands like AB InBev. We all have a part in this transformation, and at erthos, our team is solving this challenge by evolving the plastics industry.

Promateris is a leading European manufacturer of sustainable products and solutions for the circular economy. With a history of more than 60 years in packaging manufacturing, Promateris has gained regional leadership and top manufacturing expertise in packaging production.

Promateris Group invests in developing sustainable packaging products and solutions for the circular economy, R&D and end-of-life solutions. The company also operates a plant dedicated to manufacturing specialty compounding for technical applications, and is active in Bucharest, Valencia and Warsaw through commercial offices and distributors in more than 10 countries. We are dedicated to offering highly customised solutions for retailers, HoReCa and waste management companies.

Our main focus is developing products with reduced environmental impact, and this is why we constantly invest in developing scalable innovative solutions, in order to achieve impact at a bigger scale. Our focus is offering bio-based, compostable or recycled packaging as an alternative to more conventional solutions.

TÜV AUSTRIA Group is a leading independent Testing, Inspection and Certification company covering industry, energy, infrastructure, transportation, certification, training and digital services with +2.000 experts in +20 countries.

From cybersecurity, robotics and IoT to pressure equipment inspections, industrial plant safety, materials testing and hygienics (air, soil, water, surfaces, rooms), TÜV AUSTRIA Group generates an annual turnover of €220 million.

On 1 December 2017, TÜV AUSTRIA Group integrated the OK compost and OK biobased conformity marks and certification activities into the newly founded subsidiary TÜV AUSTRIA Belgium.

With a team of nearly 20 specialists fully dedicated to assessment and certification of compostable and/or bio-based products, TÜV AUSTRIA promotes, through its internationally recognised marks of conformity, the harmonisation of definitions, standards and testing methods to ensure clear and universal statements based on measurable facts.

Ingevity is a leading provider of specialty chemicals, high-performance carbon materials and engineered polymers. Through a team of talented and experienced people, Ingevity develops, manufactures and brings to market products and processes that purify, protect and enhance the world around us.

These products are used in a variety of demanding applications, including asphalt paving, oil exploration and production, agrochemicals, adhesives, lubricants, publication inks, coatings, elastomers, bioplastics and automotive components that reduce gasoline vapor emissions.

Ingevity is the world leader in the production and development of caprolactone technology under the Capa family of products. These add value to formulations and enable customers to create new higher-performing products in the areas of coatings, polyurethane elastomers, adhesives and bioplastics.

In combination with other bioplastics, Capa helps:

  • Protect: Fully biodegradable in controlled conditions thus protecting the environment around us
  • Enhance: Improving mechanical properties of traditional bioplastics such as flexibility at very low temperatures
  • Enhance: Improved processing thus avoiding material and energy waste
At Central Plains Group we promote and facilitate regenerative farming practices and high quality potato starch based polymers (TPS) that contribute as much to a healthy ecosystem as they do to nourishing populations.
Since 2019, we’ve been working successfully in some of the most productive, low-cost farming regions in the world to develop a vertically integrated agricultural and biopolymer refinery business. Our purpose? To develop a low-carbon, zero-waste, circular bioeconomy that nurtures people, plants and planet.
Headed up by a team of proven innovators with experience spanning three decades in sustainable farming, we are the trusted partner for growers, buyers, investors and biopolymer manufacturers. Choosing to work with CPG means choosing to invest in a better, cleaner, healthier future for our planet and the people we share it with.

BioPak products are designed for the circular economy, and our mission is to produce packaging that puts the planet first. We strive to offer the most sustainable and innovative packaging on the market and we’re dedicated to reducing any negative impact we have on the environment.

We are a profit for purpose brand who aim to give back to both planet and people. We are committed to making a difference across environmental projects and communities by donating a % of our profits and through raising awareness.

Reusable will always be the most sustainable solution, however single-use packaging can be unavoidable. Our food packaging solutions are designed to minimise the environmental impact, whilst delivering an unforgettable dining experience. Our products are certified carbon neutral and can be either home composted, industrially composted or recycled – ensuring a no-waste-to-landfill solution.

In 2001 Harold Naylor and his colleague Christopher Marsden set up a joint venture to bring BioBags to local authorities across England Wales and Northern Ireland. Part of the BioBag International group, BioBag Ltd’s aim was to develop their successful Norwegian model of using compostable liners and associated products in food waste recycling schemes.

By working closely with both the waste collection and the waste treatment industries BioBag Ltd became a highly respected, responsive and trustworthy supplier to public and private sector operators across the waste industry. In 2019, the company changed its name to The Compost Bag Company to reinforce that the company’s bags are compostable and to disassociate itself from ‘bioplastic’ bag products that are partly derived from bio-based sources but are not compostable.

Vegware is the UK’s first and only completely compostable food packaging firm, manufacturing since 2006. We are pioneering the development and manufacture of eco friendly catering disposables and food packaging that can all be recycled along with food waste. Our products are stylish, functional, economic and sustainable. The Vegware range of 250+ compostable products spans cutlery through to tableware, napkins, hot and cold drink cups, and takeaway packaging. We work with a network of distributors across the UK to deliver our range of eco disposables to our clients.

Floreon is an award-winning biomaterials technology company, with patents granted both in the UK and internationally for greener, safer plastics which are high performing, environmentally friendly and fully compostable.

Our products and our business emerged from a desire for a greener, more sustainable form of plastic. Working with the University of Sheffield we embarked on an innovative project to create a specially formulated compound based on polylactic acid (PLA), enabling us to develop new plastics from a sustainable origin and with a range of end of life options.

The materials come from renewable sources, the production processes use less energy, the end product is stronger and lasts longer . When it does reach the end, Floreon lends itself to recycling , composting, or use for energy or even feedstock , leaving landfill behind and completing a circle of sustainability.

Oceanium is developing food and nutrition products and marine-safe, home compostable bio-packaging materials from sustainably-farmed seaweed.

Utilizing an innovative green chemistry, Oceanium will produce a home compostable, marine-safe bio-packaging material to replace current food packaging which has no end of life solutions. Oceanware will be 100% natural and its end of life solution is to be disposed of with food waste which will then be composted for soil health or for anaerobic digestion for energy.

Unlike competing feedstocks for packaging, such as fossil fuels or corn, Oceanware will be processed close to seaweed farms. Seaweed does not require land/water/fertiliser,  it sequesters carbon and removes excess nutrients from surrounding waters.

Seaweed contains valuable food ingredients and bioactive nutraceuticals.

Using an innovative biorefinery approach, Oceanium will extract valuable food ingredients including protein, fibre and nutraceuticals to meet the increasing demand for vegan, sustainably-cultivated food ingredients with transparent provenance.

Unlike competing vegan protein sources such as soy, seaweed does not require cleared land, freshwater, insecticide, or fertiliser.

Oceanium’s seaweed will be sourced from the cold clear waters of the North Atlantic and sustainably farmed, never wild harvested.

The Renewable Energy Association (REA) was established in 2001 as a not-for-profit trade association, representing British renewable energy producers and promoting the use of renewable energy in the UK. The REA helps its members build commercially and environmentally sustainable businesses whilst increasing the contribution of renewable energy to the UK’s electricity, heat, transport and green gas needs. The REA’s mission is to grow the renewable energy economy and to bring renewables into the mainstream.

At BASF, we have been creating chemistry for 150 years. As the world’s leading chemical company, we combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility to offer customers intelligent system solutions and sophisticated products. Through science and innovation we enable our customers in nearly every industry to meet the current and future needs of society. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future.

Founded in 1992 as a pure R&D company, BIOTEC began in a garage in Emmerich am Rhein with a kind of waffle iron and ingredients from a supermarket. Today, BIOTEC is a leading company that develops and produces sustainable bioplastics made from plant-based renewable resources. The film and rigid application range stretches from refuse and shopper bags to pharmaceutical capsules, including food industry blisters, cosmetics packaging and many other requests from our clients. BIOTEC produces and sells a new generation of customized thermoplastic materials with various functional properties under the brand name BIOPLAST. All products made from BIOPLAST grades are 100% biodegradable.

NOVAMONT is the world’s leading company in the sector of bioplastics and biochemicals obtained through the integration of chemistry, environment and agriculture. It promotes a new model of bioeconomy in the logic of the circular economy, not only based on efficiency and sustainable use of renewable resources, but also as a factor for territorial regeneration. Its development model starts from local areas and creates integrated biorefineries by converting uncompetitive industrial sites, respecting the specific characteristics and biodiversity of the territories, in partnership with all the stakeholders in the value chain. Under the brand name MATER-BI it produces an innovative family of proprietary bioplastics, which are biodegradable and compostable according to the European standard EN 13432.

Futamura is a leading global manufacturer of plastic and cellulosic materials including Cellophane™ films, renewable and compostable NatureFlex™ films, casings and non-wovens. Our films are sold to converters, brand owners and end-users in over 100 countries worldwide. They become part of the packaging, labelling or overwrap solution for some of the world’s best known brands across a wide variety of everyday consumer goods.

 Employing 1,500 people, we have production sites in Japan, USA and UK and operate a network of sales offices, agents and distributors throughout the world. Our experienced sales and technical teams are with our customers every step of the way. Matching products to identified needs, trialling and proving functionality to deliver high performance solutions. We view customer relations as partnerships and endeavour to focus on results that meet and surpass expectations.

Woolcool® aims to unleash the true potential of wool as a bio-material through the application of science, thereby making a significant impact on human health and wellbeing. Woolcool® serves the Pharmaceutical Cold Chain Industry. Along with other temperature sensitive medicines, it is used to send life-saving vaccines, insulin and cancer drugs around the world, keeping them in temperature and safe to use on arrival. It is also one of the leading Insulated Packaging solutions of choice within the Online Food Industry in the UK and Europe, supplying a number of large, medium and small online food companies. Woolcool® is used to send fresh chilled foods from raw milk and meat to chocolate and cakes, direct to the customer’s door.

As a leading producer of customised bioplastics, FKuR offers a broad range of bio-based and biodegradable resins for a variety of durable and flexible applications. FKuR’s bioplastics have been tested according to recognised national and international standards and are certified by independent institutes. Customers can benefit from a variety of compounds, from our global distribution program as well as our development partnerships.

FUCHS is the world’s largest independent lubricants manufacturer.
We manufacture and supply innovative lubricating products and bespoke support packages – providing a complete service to our customers. We have expertise and experience in developing lubricants for a wide variety of applications, including: engine oils, food grade lubricants, agricultural oils, cutting fluids, greases, hydraulic oils and much more. We have a full range of support services to help customers choose the right lubricant for their application and get the most from their lubricants.

NatureWorks is an independent company invested in by Cargill and PTT Global Chemical, offering a family of commercially available biopolymers derived from 100 percent annually renewable resources with cost and performance that compete with petroleum-based packaging materials and fibres. The company apply its unique technology to the processing of natural plant sugars to create the proprietary polylactide polymer marketed under the Ingeo brand name.

NatureWorks represents one of the largest efforts ever in green chemistry and biorefinery. Today, with representatives in over 10 countries, NatureWorks does business in North America, Europe, Japan and Asia Pacific and works with converters, brandowners and retailers around the world to help introduce innovative eco-friendly products made with Ingeo plastics & fibres.

IBioIC (The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre) was established in 2014 to enable the growth of the Industrial Biotechnology industry in Scotland. IBioIC is an industry-led centre that solves industrially relevant problems by utilising the world-leading research capabilities available within the Scottish University system. Our aim is to accelerate and de-risk the development of commercially viable, sustainable solutions for high-value manufacturing in a variety of different sectors such as Chemical Sciences and Life Sciences. IBioIC provides an ecosystem in which IB using and enabling companies can innovate and grow, this is done in a number of ways: by providing access to project funding; developing an industrially relevant skills pipeline; two bespoke equipment centres and a technical consultants network.

For more than three decades, multi-award-winning Planglow has been a leading supplier of catering labels, compostable packaging and food labelling software. In 2011 we introduced our first environmentally-friendly packaging range, today we offer five branded collections of compostable packaging and labelling for grab-and-go and hot takeaway foods. All of our packaging is made from compostable materials, even the clear window film is derived from renewable plants rather than oil-based plastic. The plant based laminate is fully certified to the European (EN13432) norms for compostable packaging and is also certified as home compostable. Working with bio-processing experts, we are able to offer our clients a closed-loop solution for disposing of food and packaging waste on site.

We are also the sole provider of our unique catering labelling software LabelLogic Live, a market-leading fully web based application for creating and printing food labels. We support the growth of our customer’s catering businesses by showcasing their food and drink products with ecological, beautifully designed packaging and labelling, helping customers to increase sales and improve both brand recognition and customer loyalty.

Biome Bioplastics is a leading UK-based developer of bioplastics. Serving a global customer base from its headquarters in Southampton, the company’s mission is to produce materials to challenge the dominance of oil-based polymers. The Biome Bioplastics team is working with leading universities, research bodies, scale-up facilities and other partners to bring to market novel work in industrial biotechnology. The main focus is on the development of novel bio-based and biodegradable hetero-aromatic polyesters for a variety of end-uses. Over the last four years Biome and its partners have invested over US$7 million in research and development funding. Now proven robustly at laboratory scale and with appropriate patents filings, the next challenge is to scale up for a pilot on the path to commercial production. Meanwhile, other work continues to expand the range of feedstocks, broaden the pathways used and refine the products offered our customers.

As an experienced food packaging specialist, for the last 15 years KCC has focused on sustainable solutions, and has become ‘a company of our time’, with all its products made either from low-carbon, recyclable materials or compostable plant sources. Its riji® product is currently its most notable innovation. riji ® packaging provides a compostable, natural alternative to CPet that cannot be recycled in the ready meal and food-to-go industries. Its uniqueness is the application of a natural barrier coating, which renders the natural fibre base non-porous, and thus suitable for foods with a high moisture content, such as curries and lasagnes. riji ® also performs better than CPet in both microwave and traditional ovens, remaining rigid at higher temperatures. The product carries a food migration certificate to 240C.

Established 70 years ago, Fabbri Group is a global packaging company with headquarters in Italy, several subsidiaries in Europe and a global network of distributors.

Producing machines and films, predominantly for the food sector, Fabbri Group’s key focus is protecting fresh food and reducing food waste. They are driven by creating eco-friendly packing solutions that have minimum impact on the planet.

TIPA Sustainable Packaging was founded in 2010 to create viable compostable, flexible packaging options. TIPA’s vision is for flexible packaging to have the same end-of-life organic matter has, while also offering consumers and brands the same durability, transparency and shelf life they have come to expect from conventional plastics. Even though the volume of flexible packaging is smaller by weight and space, most flexible packaging cannot be practically recycled. Flexible packaging isn’t made of pure plastic polymers but rather made by blending several materials. These blended materials make flexible packaging complicated for separation and recycling. TIPA shares its vision as an incentive to overcome this challenge with a growing community around the globe, including consumers and brands that strive for a circular economy approach, and wish that compostable packaging will become a day-to-day solution for both food and packaging waste.

Click here to view certifications for TIPA’s bio-based and biodegradable products.

Pujing Chemical Industry CO., Ltd (PJCHEM) established in 2005, is a high-tech enterprise mainly focused on investment, development and authorization of chemical process and advanced material technology. PJCHEM polymer business division, composed of a consolidate team with skilled and experienced experts, is mainly engaged in the cutting-edge polymer business, including new biodegradable material development, manufacture and distribution. We deliver industry-leading products and a full range of technical support service to help our customers and partners using our products. By staying closely with our customers, we keep developing innovation technology in response the needs and requirements from our customers. Our vision is to use our self-developed technology and knowhow to become a leading supplier of new biodegradable polymer in global market.

TotalEnergies Corbion is a global leader in marketing, sales and production of Polylactic Acid (PLA).

PLA is a biobased and biodegradable polymer made from annually renewable resources, offering a reduced carbon footprint versus many traditional plastics. The Luminy® PLA portfolio, which includes both high heat and standard PLA grades, is an innovative material that is used in a wide range of markets including fresh food packaging, consumer goods, fibers, food service ware and 3D-printing.

Parkside is a pioneer in the development and commercialisation of a leading range of industrial and home compostable packaging solutions that provide a credible alternative to landfill for traditional flexible packaging.

The high barrier packaging and lidding designs are suitable for a wide range of market sectors, including snack, confectionery and ambient food applications such as coffee and dried goods.

Developed under the Park-2-Nature brand, Parkside’s compostable laminates are robust and durable, just like traditional plastic packaging, and are rigorously tested for eco-toxicity and a host of other criteria against EN 13432. They are also accredited from TUV (formerly Vincotte) and are available in a range of aesthetic options including white, matt, clear, metallised and kraft and can be fully colour flexographic printed.

Headquartered in Normanton, West Yorkshire, UK, the company employs over 180 people and has a worldwide client base, with production facilities in the UK and Asia.

Parkside delivers its expertise in compostable packaging to customers through an intrinsic understanding of a wide range of fast-moving consumer goods markets. Its innovation team provides the latest thinking in compostable and recyclable packaging design backed by market-leading operations, supply chain and customer service teams.

Eco-Craft was established in 1992 as a specialist mailorder manufacturer of recycled paper products and craft materials. The company moved online in 2000 and following growing customer feedback, by 2007 the decision was made to stop selling conventional plastics and adopt a plastic-free approach to all products. This led to eco-craft becoming an e-commerce only company, with compostable packaging a focal point of the business.

Eco-Craft now sells online to a variety of businesses, from start-ups marketing through platforms such as Etsy, eBay, Amazon etc. through to larger e-tailers, museums, hospitality venues etc. who are looking for recycled paper and compostable packaging, off the shelf in smaller quantities, with a quick turn round.

We believe that reducing the number of conventional plastics in e-commerce has a big part to play in creating a truly sustainable future and that compostable products are an important part of the solution to help decarbonise the planet and reduce the negative impact we have on our environment.

Leader Grain

LEADER GRAIN has been working in the international grain market since 2013 and now is also a world-leading biopolymers supplier and innovator with products of naturally advanced materials made from renewable, abundant feedstocks with performance and economics that compete with oil-based intermediates, plastics, and fibers.

Our goal is to make economically competitive and scalable chemicals and materials that are produced based on renewable feedstocks, fully recyclable, with a significantly lower carbon footprint, and with superior performance to the petroleum-based alternatives.

Since 1983, Cromwell Polythene has committed to supplying polythene and compostable products that capture, contain and secure.

Cromwell continues to grow organically and now occupies its fourth purpose-built distribution facility near Leeds and a manufacturing plant in Derbyshire, strengthening our UK recycling and manufacturing capacity.

The group’s Polythene Recovery Service feeds into the manufacturing division, furthering its commitment to grow and support the circular economy of resources.

The BioIndustry Association (BIA) is the voice of the innovative life sciences and biotech industry, enabling and connecting the UK ecosystem so that businesses can start, grow and deliver world-changing innovation.
The BIA is an award-winning trade association representing more than 550 member companies including:
• Start-ups, biotechnology and innovative life science companies
• Pharmaceutical and technological companies
• Universities, research centres, tech transfer offices, incubators and accelerators
• A wide range of life science service providers: investors, lawyers, IP consultants and IR agencies
Explore opportunities to influence, connect and save with the BIA.

NNFCC is a strategic consultancy with in-depth knowledge of the bioeconomy, offering clients a wealth of experience in the bioenergy and biofuels markets and the growing biobased products sector.

NNFCC firmly believes in a future where biobased technologies are a key component of the low carbon circular economy.

The organisation has successfully delivered projects to a wide range of clients including agricultural businesses, biotechnology developers, power companies, chemical producers and product manufacturers, brand owners and retailers, Universities and Research Funding Agencies and both regional and national Governments.

Aquapak is a specialist polymer manufacturer based in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

We are pioneers in the design and development of innovative planet-friendly materials that are helping to accelerate the move toward a circular economy.

Working in partnership with paper and packaging companies and major consumer brand owners around the world we provide scalable solutions to their recycling and sustainability challenges. Our R&D teams recently launched the groundbreaking new polymer Hydropol™ which can deliver in terms of performance and functionality as well as provide a more environmentally responsible end-of-life for product and packaging designers. As an enabling technology, Hydropol™ can be used on its own or in combination with other materials to enhance recyclability, compostability and end-of-life options. Its material properties allow it to be used effectively in a diverse range of products and its solubility makes it easy to separate from other materials when recycling.

If you’d like to find out more, please get in touch via the Aquapak website.