Bioplastics In Full Bloom: 30% Growth Rate Forecast

A leading market research provider sees a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% for the global bioplastics market.

 

Long-time market research provider BCC Research, Wellesley, Mass., has been following the bioplastics market for over 10 years. The latest report, “Global Markets and Technologies for Bioplastics”, published last month, examined the global bioplastic market and projects a CAGR of 30% for the five-year period, 2015 to 2020.

 

Author Jason Chen reports that there is even some potential development of bioplastics from animal resources. Chen also reviews plastics that may be potentially made from waste carbon dioxide because of their potential impact on bioplastics, though their data are now included in the report’s forecasts.

 

Chen further defines bioplastics as polymer materials that are produced by synthesizing—chemically or biologically—materials that contain renewable organic materials. Natural organic materials that are not chemically modified (e.g., wood composites) are excluded. The report includes the use of renewable resources to create monomers that replace petroleum-based monomers, such as feedstocks made from sugarcane that are used to manufacture PET and PE. Ethanol, a major product in Brazil, is one small chemical step from ethylene. The report’s focal point is on the following chemistries:

 

• Polylactic acid (PLA)

• Themoplastic starch

• Biopolyamides (nylons).

• Polyhydroxyalknoates (PHAs)

• Biopolyols and polyurethane

• Cellulosics

• Biopolytrimethylene terephthalate

• Biopolyethylene

• Biopolyethylene terephthalate

• Polybutylene succinate

 

Here’s what else the new report offers:

 

• An overview of the global markets for bioplastics.

• Analyses of global market trends with data from 2014, 2015, and projections of CAGRs through 2020.

• Identification of trends that will affect the use of bioplastics and their major end-use application markets.

• Information on specific end markets for bioplastics by material types, with sections devoted to each type of renewably sourced plastic.

• Analysis of market developments regarding major applications for bioplastics, including packaging, automotive, electrical/electronic, medical, building and construction.

• Profiles of major players.

 

The report does not include biodegradable and photodegradable polymers made from petrochemical feedstocks. Other renewable resin chemistries are also covered but in less detail, as their roles are an early development stages. Included are collagen and chitosan.

 

Learn more about bioplastics at Plastics Technology’s online material database.