Bio-plastics production grows to 7.5 million tonnes

Production of bio-based polymers will continue to grow at the same rate as petrochemical polymers and plastics resulting in a market share of constantly around 2%. More growth is currently hampered by lack of political support and the low oil price, the nova Institute writes in its market study “Bio-based Building Blocks and Polymers – Global Capacities, Production and Trends 2018-2023.”

The sector – 175 manufacturerers were surveyed -, however, has matured in the past few years: by now, there is a bio-based alternative for practically every application. The 380-pages market report lists production data and future projections for 17 bio-based building blocks and 16 polymers.

The increase in production capacity is mainly based on the expansion of the polylactic acid (PLA) production in Thailand and the polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) and starch blends production expansion in US. Especially PLA and starch blends will continue to grow significantly until 2023. Also new capacities of bio-based polyamides, polyethylene (PE) and, for the first time, polypropylene (PP) and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) will also be added in Europe in this period. After BASF quit the joint-venture with Avantium, Synvina, nova expects the great hopeful polyethylene furanoate (PEF) will now be produced in commercial capacities after 2023. 

So far, the two major advantages of bio-based polymers have not been politically rewarded, nova concludes: The first advantage is that bio-based polymers replace fossil carbon in the production process with renewable carbon from biomass. According to nova Institute his is indispensable for a sustainable, climate-friendly plastics industry and is not yet politically rewarded.

The second advantage is offered by about a quarter of bio-based polymer production: They are biodegradable (depending on the environment) and can therefore be a solution for plastics that cannot be collected and enter the environment where they can biodegrade without leaving behind microplastics. Only a few countries such as Italy, France and, in future probably Spain will politically support this additional disposal path.

The most important market drivers in 2018 were brands that wanted to offer their customers environmentally friendly solutions and critical consumers looking for alternatives to petrochemicals. If bio-based polymers were to be accepted as a solution and promoted in a similar way as biofuels, annual growth rates of 10% to 20% could be expected, according to nova. The same applies as soon as the price of oil rises significantly. Based on the already existing technical maturity of bio-based polymers, considerable market shares could then be gained.