Issue 06/2018

Report
GO!PHA
Introduction of the Global Organization for PHA
F
ollowing a successful conclusion of 1 st PHA platform
world congress, in September 2018, a group of four
experts conceived the idea of establishing a global initiative
to accelerate the development of the PHA-platform
industry by sharing experiences, knowledge and developments,
and by communicating objectively towards policy
development organizations, NGOs, OEMs/Brand Owners,
plastics processors and the general public, and to facilitate
joint development initiatives. The result is GO!PHA, a Global
Organization for PHA, an initiative of Jan Ravenstijn, Rick
Passenier (PACE), Anindya Mukherjee (i2i Consulting) and
Michael Carus (nova-Institut).
Polyhydroxyalkanoate polymers (PHAs) provide a unique
opportunity as a solution for reducing greenhouse gases and
environmental plastics pollution and offer numerous design
opportunities in the new global plastics ecosystem. However,
legislators, brand owners and the common public are largely
unaware of the potential benefits and as of today commercial
success has been limited.
The founding members of Go!PHA believe that significant
effort is needed to highlight and promote the benefits of PHAs
to the global consumer community, OEMs/Brand Owners
and plastics processors on PHA’s durability, sustainability
and its impact on accelerating The Circular Economy via
growing demand for a range of sustainable, high-quality
and competitive products and materials based on renewable
feedstocks and offering diverse end-of-life options.
With this article, Go!PHA is presenting the start and
general outline of the Global Organization for PHA; GO!PHA,
and would like to invite interested stakeholders to share their
feedback and support for this initiative.
The Global Organization for PHA
The Global Organization for PHA will serve the entire
PHA-platform industry and its downstream markets in
demonstrating its benefits and encouraging the development
and commercialization of PHA polymers as new solutions
and as a beneficial alternative to existing petroleum polymers
and plastics, by engaging in three major areas:
• Communication, policy and legislation
Educating key public and private stakeholders about the
benefits of PHA-polymers, by developing objective technical,
environmental and pre-commercial communication.
Advocating legislative and market adoption drivers and
identifying and overcoming barriers for further PHApolymers
adoption, by actively representing the industry
interests in key global and local forums.
• Market proliferation
Improving market perception about the application
development options and multiplying on success, by
showcasing best practices. Creating an informative channel
to present the realm of product and application development
options and to develop objective inter-material replacement
data. Create a forum to allow members to help match market
demand and supply, and application development.
• Technical and scientific knowledge development
Accelerating the implementation of technical and scientific
developments across the industry, by sharing processes,
methods and tools to improve the overall PHA-polymer
competitiveness. Facilitating pre-competitive research and
create a forum for development partnerships on matters of
common interest.
Structure
The Global PHA Organization will be a non-profit
organization, backed by its members, with a lean
management structure. It will have a global scope and the
organization aims to have representation/ambassadors at all
geographic locations. For the daily support, management,
on- and offline representation and ancillary expenses, an
initial annual budget requirement of approximately 300,000
EUR is foreseen.
Engagement
GO!PHA welcomes all parties that want to support and/or
to join efforts in developing, producing and commercializing
PHA polymers, from feedstock to product to end-oflife.
Membership provides access to the global PHA
community, workshops and knowledge sharing, technical
and commercial communication towards public and private
stakeholders, involvement in product assessments and sideby-side
comparisons, case studies and position papers and
concrete project and partnership opportunities.
Membership options and financial contributions will be
based on engagement level, in two brackets:
• General membership fee (discriminating small and
medium sized enterprises, governmental and nongovernmental
organizations and multi-national
companies)
• Project related fees for involvement in particular
programs and projects
Additionally, the organization will propose founding member
contributions for establishing the organization, sponsorship
packages and donations from various stakeholders.
Next steps
The Global Organization for PHA will be shaped in the
coming months with a targeted formal establishment date
in Q1-2019. The team has scheduled the following process:
• December 2018: gathering feedback on function,
structure and support
32 bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/18] Vol. 13