From Zero Waste to Better Materials: what COP31 Means for Bioplastics
When delegates gather in Antalya this November, one theme will be unusually prominent for a climate summit: waste. Türkiye's foreign ministry says the country will prioritise the Zero Waste approach throughout the COP31 process. Bioplastics and other sustainable materials could play a key role in achieving zero waste worldwide.
Türkiye has a history with zero waste campaigns. The Zero Waste Foundation was launched in 2023 under the auspices of First Lady Emine Erdoğan, and a UN General Assembly resolution designated 30 March as the International Day of Zero Waste. The Zero Waste Foundation's president, Samed Ağırbaş, also acts as COP31 High-Level Climate Champion, which gives the movement a direct connection to the summit's action agenda. That agenda is the part of COP that mobilises non-state actors such as cities, the business world and civil society, rather than the formal negotiating text.
Momentum for the zero-waste agenda began this year with the June Zero Waste Forum in Istanbul. Themed "Road to Antalya: Zero Waste as Climate Action," the Forum drew more than 120 ministers from 183 countries, hundreds of mayors and over 5,000 participants. Its outputs included the Road to Antalya Declaration, a City Action Commitments Package, a Food Waste and Methane Action Guide, and a Partnership and Project Pipeline.
Where Bioplastics Fit
The zero-waste hierarchy is simple: prevent, reduce, reuse, then recycle. Three connections stand out:
1. Reducing reliance on virgin fossil feedstock. Bio-based polymers made from agricultural residues, starch, sugar or waste oils offer a pathway for reducing dependence on imported primary raw materials. They work well alongside recycling hubs, where recycled and bio-based content can displace virgin fossil plastic.
2. Targeting the products recycling handles worst. Mixed, contaminated or very thin plastics, such as food packaging, produce bags and mulch films, are hard to recycle. Compostable materials can make sense there, but only when a composting or organics-collection system exists. That ties directly to food waste and methane, since food scraps and compostable packaging can travel the same collection stream.
3. Waste becoming feedstock. The circular-economy idea of reusing waste as raw material whenever possible extends naturally to bio-based production, such as through agricultural and food residues. The Istanbul Forum's included a session on the bioeconomy.
Our Investments
BioLogiQ makes NuPlastiQ, a thermoplastic plant-based resin made from the by-product of potato processing plants. In effect, a food-industry waste stream becomes a way to use less fossil-based plastic. BioLogiQ also reports a marine test in which a GP/PBAT film reached 97% biodegradation in ocean water within a year. Plastrans Technologies brings such materials to market. It delivers biopolymers across Europe and the MENA region. It has deepened a transatlantic cooperation with BioLogiQ, and also works with raw materials suppliers made from plastic waste. CO2BioClean tackles the problem from the emissions side. Its patented fermentation process captures CO2 at industrial facilities and converts it into fully biodegradable PHA polymers, which can go into packaging, textiles, cosmetics and agriculture.
The Role of COP31
Bioplastics are still a small slice of the market, at under 1% of global plastics production. COP31 is unlikely to produce agreements on bioplastics production. However, it does present an opportunity for investors and manufacturers to connect and work together.
The zero-waste agenda will push to embed circularity targets in national climate plans and to build a project pipeline with finance behind it. Innovation in sustainable materials will matter if that pipeline includes bio-based and recycled-content production, compostable-packaging pilots tied to organics collection, and clear standards on what can be labelled biodegradable or compostable. If the COP31 presidency turns its zero-waste momentum into funded projects and shared standards, sustainable materials could move from side-event topic to a real part of the climate toolkit.
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