“We are pleased that the Biden administration recognizes the criticality of the need for plastics and is prioritizing research to make them even better. Our industry has always been committed to sourcing sustainable materials and making them better, and we look forward to partnering with the administration to develop innovative plastics, through the development of new bio-based raw materials and the improvement of more recyclable plastics”. These are the words of Patrick Krieger, vice president of sustainability of the Plastics Industry Association, with which the biotechnology and bioproduction development plan issued in the United States in recent days by the Biden administration was welcomed.
In fact, on the subject of biotechnology and bioproduction, the United States Government has launched the “Bold Goals for US Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing” project, setting a series of objectives and priorities to promote sustainable alternatives in all industrial sectors, including plastics. To this end, a five-year investment plan worth over one billion dollars is envisaged to take on a leading role globally in the bioeconomy which provides, among other initiatives, for the replacement of 90% of fossil plastics with bio-based and recyclable alternatives in the next twenty years.