At a general assembly meeting held on 16 July, European Bioplastics (Berlin / Germany; www.european-bioplastics.org) elected its new board for a 2-year term. Incumbent chairman Andy Sweetman (Innovia Films) was reelected to another term. He will be closely supported by vice chairman Jens Hamprecht (BASF) and Mark Vergauwen (NatureWorks). Other board members include Rainer Barthel (Danone), Francesco Degli Innocenti (Novamont), Joeran Reske (Interseroh) and Harald Käb (narocon). The latter is to take on the responsibilities of association treasurer.

At the meeting, new/old chairman Sweetman said that “the awareness of bioplastics has risen immensely within the last year as bioplastics reach more and more consumer products.” A recent study carried out by the association predicts that global bioplastics production capacity will reach more than 1.7m t/y by 2015 – see Plasteurope.com of 26.05.2011. In a separate study, market researcher Pira International (Leatherhead, Surrey / UK; www.pira-international.com) predicts that bioplastics packaging alone will rise to 884,000 t/y by 2020 – see Plasteurope.com of 13.01.2011.