BioApply and Ibi Plast: A Strategic Alliance to Lead the European Compostable Packaging Market

At a moment when European packaging regulation is fundamentally reshaping the industry, BioApply and Ibi Plast are taking a decisive step forward together. The two companies — one rooted in the innovation ecosystem of EPFL in Lausanne, the other in the industrial tradition of the Lombardy region of Italy — announced on 25 March 2026 the formation of an integrated strategic platform. This is not a routine commercial agreement. It is the culmination of more than twenty years of pioneering collaboration, now transformed into a unified and ambitious structure designed to meet the growing demands of the European market for compostable packaging.

Two Decades of Collaboration, A New Chapter

BioApply, founded in 2006 and based at the EPFL Innovation Park in Ecublens, near Lausanne, has established itself as the Swiss leader in sustainable packaging frameworks and branding. The company has built recognised expertise in regulatory compliance, traceability, and certification systems — notably through its RespectCode system, which ensures the transparency of products placed on the market.

Ibi Plast srl, headquartered in Solbiate Olona in the province of Varese in Lombardy, has been an industrial cornerstone of the compostable packaging sector since 1992. As a benchmark producer of compostable films at industrial scale, the company operates a manufacturing hub near Milan and holds proven production capacity suited to the largest retail groups as well as public and private sector clients alike.

Together, these two companies cover the entire value chain: from regulatory compliance and certification to industrial production, branding, and market deployment. It is precisely this complementarity that the alliance now formalises and amplifies.

A Pivotal Moment for the European Packaging Industry

The announcement comes at a particularly demanding — and opportunity-rich — moment. The European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), set to take full effect in 2026, is permanently transforming the rules of the sector. Demand for high-compliance, traceable, and performance-driven sustainable packaging has reached an all-time high.

Faced with this regulatory pressure, market participants are searching for partners capable not only of supplying certified products, but also of supporting them through compliance risk management. That is precisely the positioning this alliance offers: a fully integrated platform combining deep regulatory expertise with industrial-scale production.

As Frédéric Mauch, Founder of BioApply, put it: value in the packaging sector is migrating away from simple commodities toward trust, certification, and regulatory reassurance. By combining BioApply's Swiss-led sustainability trust platform and the transparency of the RespectCode system with the advanced industrial infrastructure of Ibi Plast, the alliance creates a unique entity providing a comprehensive risk reduction layer for clients across Switzerland, Austria (shopping bags only), France, the Benelux countries, and the Nordic region.

A Platform Built for the Most Demanding Markets

The new structure emerging from this alliance is designed to serve a broad range of clients: large retail groups, public sector clients, mid-sized brands, and smaller retailers. The objective is clear — to be capable of addressing the full commercial spectrum of the European market without compromise on industrial reliability or compliance standards.

Aldo Reguzzoni, CEO of Ibi Plast, summarises the shared vision: this alliance is the result of a shared mission and two decades of technical synergy. Together, they provide a model for the compostable packaging sector that meets the market's need for eco-friendly and sustainable options without compromising on industrial reliability. The alliance is equipped to serve the largest retail groups, public sector clients, brands, and smaller retailers from the manufacturing hub near Milan, supported by the innovation and compliance centre of BioApply at EPFL in Lausanne.

The architecture of the platform rests on two complementary poles: on one side, BioApply's innovation and compliance centre within the EPFL Innovation Park in Lausanne — embedded in Switzerland's research and innovation ecosystem — and on the other, Ibi Plast's industrial production capabilities in the Milan region. This deliberate geographic duality reflects a division of labour designed to maximise the comparative strengths of each partner for the benefit of the end client.

Swiss Excellence and Italian Industrial Excellence: A Unique Model

One of the most distinctive features of this alliance lies in the complementarity between the two partners' corporate cultures and areas of expertise. BioApply brings what might be called "Swiss Excellence": regulatory rigour, institutional credibility, the RespectCode certification and traceability system, and a strong anchor in the academic and scientific ecosystem of EPFL. Ibi Plast, for its part, embodies "Italian Industrial Excellence": technical mastery of compostable films built since 1992, large-scale production capacity, and the industrial flexibility required to meet the volume demands of Europe's largest retail groups.

This combination directly addresses one of the structural challenges of the compostable packaging market. Too often, actors specialised in compliance and certification lack the production capacity needed to respond to tenders from large buyers, while industrial manufacturers sometimes lack the regulatory depth and certification credibility essential for accessing the most demanding markets. The BioApply–Ibi Plast alliance is designed to bridge precisely that gap.

The RespectCode System: Transparency at the Heart of the Value Proposition

BioApply developed and deployed the RespectCode system — a traceability and transparency tool that forms a central element of the alliance's value proposition. In a market where greenwashing remains a real and documented risk, the ability to demonstrate — in a verifiable and independent manner — the regulatory compliance and environmental performance of products is a major competitive advantage.

For the alliance's clients, whether retailers, brands, or public sector bodies, the RespectCode system represents an additional layer of assurance that is particularly valuable in an environment where regulations are evolving rapidly and reporting and traceability obligations are tightening across Europe.

Clearly Defined Target Markets

The alliance focuses its commercial efforts on specific geographic markets: Switzerland, Austria (shopping bags only), France, the Benelux countries, and the Nordic region. These markets were identified for their high level of environmental compliance requirements, the maturity of their industrial composting infrastructure, and the sensitivity of their consumers and public decision-makers to sustainability issues.

The product range covered is equally broad: from compostable bags for retail through to waste management solutions — all produced from Ibi Plast's industrial hub near Milan, supported by BioApply's centre of excellence in Lausanne.

A Concrete Response to the Challenges of the PPWR

The entry into force of the PPWR in 2026 creates a market environment in which compliance is no longer simply a competitive advantage, but a condition for market access. Compostable packaging — including ultra-thin bags for fruit and vegetables, adhesive stickers on fresh produce, and tea and coffee sachets — is explicitly recognised in the regulation as a category of solutions to be encouraged, provided products meet applicable certification standards.

BioApply has long been a recognised voice in this regulatory debate, and the alliance with Ibi Plast now gives the company the industrial means to translate that expertise into a commercial offer at scale. For retailers and brands looking to anticipate their PPWR obligations, this integrated platform offers a structured, reliable, and scalable response.

Towards a Stronger International Presence

Beyond the European markets initially targeted, the alliance carries clear international ambitions. The objective is to expand the BioApply brand's presence across international markets, leveraging Ibi Plast's extensive production capacity to deliver a wide range of products. This ambition rests on a coherent industrial logic: a consolidated production hub near Milan capable of servicing large volumes, coupled with a brand and compliance platform whose credibility is built from Lausanne.

An Alliance Equal to the Challenge

The BioApply–Ibi Plast alliance is not the product of a short-term market opportunity. It is the logical conclusion of more than twenty years of technical and commercial collaboration between two companies that share a common vision of the sector: a compostable packaging market in which value is built on trust, certification, traceability, and industrial reliability — not on price alone.

In a European environment where the PPWR is rewriting the rules of the game, where demand from major buyers for compliant and verifiable solutions has never been stronger, and where greenwashing continues to threaten the credibility of the entire sector, this integrated platform offers a structured, credible, and operationally robust response.