Notes from the Field: Public Views on Bioplastics-Findings from Greece

In recent years, the growing popularity of plastic materials made from renewable biomass sources has prompted research on stakeholder views. This is because the circularity and decoupling credentials producing such materials can be substantial but also bring to the forefront pressing questions around public receptiveness and support. To this regard, primary research on public views towards this broad class of materials derived from bio-based sources remains sparse, highlighting a topic that requires further attention and examination across national terrains. In this research note, we focus on Greece and draw from semi-structured interviews with consumers and representatives of other key stakeholders to shed light on awareness, perceptions, attitudes, concerns and viewpoints on bioplastics. The preliminary findings indicate and further confirm issues that warrant the consideration of companies’ product development departments and offer insights in refining product presentation in the marketplace by informing marketing and communication activities. Likewise, these findings can feed into education or awareness-raising campaigns and programmes for the functional features, the terminology, the potential benefits and the proper disposal criteria of plastic products made from biogenic raw materials. Studies such as ours pave the way for a better understanding of how primary and secondary stakeholders perceive such bio-based interventions in the production system and shed light on evaluations, knowledge gaps and expectations affecting intentions to support relevant research-and-innovation outputs in the value chain. While we do not consider the study to be fully representative of the Greek population, insights drawn from the interviews do contribute to the body of knowledge encompassing stakeholders’ views which can inform the development of the industry.