The global plastic production is about 400 million ton per annum. Plantics is active in the global thermoset market. This industry’s compounded annual growth rate is 11.3% (2011-2016) with an estimated current valuation of €80Bn. Since the plastic industry is highly price driven, less than <0.4% of the 400 million ton per annum global plastic production is bio-plastic. Nevertheless, bio-plastic is currently one of the fastest growing material businesses worldwide.
Generally speaking, the packaging industry, our most relevant market, is estimated to grow at a rate of 4% in real terms till 2018. However, bio-based packaging is expected to grow at a CAGR of 33%1.
Bio-materials’ share of the packaging sector is expected to grow from 0.2% in 2013 to 2.4% by 2023. Driven by both bio renewability and biodegradability trends, the demand for bio-materials in packaging is expected to grow to about 9.45 million tpa by 2023.
A strong and safe bio-material with 100% biodegradability and compostability, full non-toxicity (even when ingested or incinerated), flame retardancy, high chemical and heat resistance, it’s feedstock does not compete with food production, it’s low-cost and can compete economically with conventional oil-based plastics.
Non-degradable petroleum-based plastics and any other bio-materials or bio-plastics currently available are generally much more expensive than their petroleum-based plastic counterparts. This is due to the often high feedstock costs and/or costly (high-tech) production processes.