Bioplastics Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Growing Environmental Concern – Environmental concerns are becoming more and more prevalent, which is expected to drive market growth. For instance, plastics made from biomaterials help save petroleum supplies, bioplastics such as bio-PP, bio-PE, or bio-PET generate less greenhouse gas emissions throughout their lifetime than conventional plastics, and they also improve a product's carbon footprint while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
• Rising Need for Compostable Plastics in Agriculture- It is expected that as the desire for "green" items rises, compostable plastic is becoming a more common option in agriculture, which often utilizes corn starch as a raw material for production. Instead of using fossil fuels, bio-based materials such as seaweed, sugar beets, or other plants are frequently used to make plastic, which improves the quality of vegetable crops, and eliminates the need for herbicides and pesticides.
  In addition, factors such as the rising adoption of eco-friendly plastics and favorable government policies about the usage of bioplastics will all contribute to the market's expansion.

Challenges

• Exorbitant Manufacturing Cost of Bioplastics - The high production cost is one of the major factors predicted to slow down the market growth. Owing to economies of scale, cost of research & development, varying cost of raw materials, and high cost of polymer plant construction, most bioplastics are now more expensive to create than fossil-based plastics, and there is also not enough production. For instance, the cost of PET or PE made from sugar cane or bio-ethanol is over 10% higher than that of traditional plastics. As a result of the high costs required, the manufacture of bioplastics is still very limited.
• Availability of Alternatives
• Lack of Advanced Functionality