IN Brief:
- The Biodegradable Plastics Association has submitted evidence to the European Commission’s review of the Single-Use Plastics Directive.
- The group argues the current wording and guidance blur the line between oxo-degradable and oxo-biodegradable materials in packaging.
- For food packaging suppliers, the issue sits within a wider regulatory push on litter, recyclability, and long-term environmental impact.
The Biodegradable Plastics Association has called on the European Commission to amend the Single-Use Plastics Directive so that oxo-biodegradable materials are distinguished more clearly from oxo-degradable plastics. The intervention comes through the Commission’s current evaluation of Directive (EU) 2019/904, which reopened consultation on the law in late 2025.
At present, the EU position is that products made from oxo-degradable plastic cannot be placed on the market in member states under the Single-Use Plastics regime, which was designed to cut the environmental impact of commonly littered plastic items and to accelerate the shift towards a more circular materials economy. The directive focuses on product groups that feature heavily in marine litter, alongside fishing gear.
The BPA is arguing that the law, and the guidance that followed it, has created a regulatory catch-all that discourages oxo-biodegradable technologies as well. In its submission, the association says that certified oxo-biodegradable materials should be treated separately because, in its view, they remain recyclable during their service life and are designed to biodegrade if they escape into the open environment. The submission points to ISO 17025-accredited testing, Intertek work carried out in 2025, and the French Oxomar marine study as evidence it says supports that distinction.
The association is not asking for the wider directive to be reversed. Instead, it wants Article 5, related recitals, and the underlying definitions revisited so that materials it describes as oxo-biodegradable are not swept into the same policy treatment as plastics that merely fragment. In practical terms, that would reopen a route for suppliers and converters that want to argue for an additional safeguard where plastic packaging escapes collection and recycling systems.
That gives the issue direct relevance in food and drink packaging, where plastic still holds a central place because of barrier performance, hygiene, weight, transport efficiency, and food-waste control. Those same applications, however, sit under intense scrutiny on end-of-life performance, litter leakage, and microplastics, which means any attempt to alter the current legal treatment will face a high evidential bar.
For now, the regulatory position has not changed. Products covered by the current oxo-degradable restriction remain barred from the EU market, and any shift would depend on the Commission’s evaluation process and whatever legislative follow-up it chooses to pursue.
