Nanocellulose Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Expanding Healthcare Sector – The healthcare sector is flourishing globally. For instance, in the U.S. economy, the healthcare sector accounted for nearly 18% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020. This expansion is anticipated to propel the demand for nanocelloluse as it has widespread utilization in the medical, biomedical, and biotechnological industries. For instance, it is used in nanomedicine, biomedical implants, drug delivery, cartilage replacements, and tissue engineering, besides the use of freeze-dried nanocellulose aerogels in sanitary napkins, tampons, diapers, wound dressing, and much more.
• Rising Global Initiatives to Reduce Carbon Footprint – The use of nanocellulose in many end-use industries may help in reducing the overall carbon emission worldwide. For instance, advances in nanocellulose are anticipated to cut the carbon footprint of paper nearly by more than 15%.
• Growing Packaging Industry – the growing innovations and inventions in flexible packaging, have fueled the production of lightweight, convenient, and sustainable packaging solutions pushing the growth of the packaging sector. For instance, the expansion of this industry is estimated to hike by almost 3% per annum, reaching more than USD 1.2 trillion between 2018 and 2028. Moreover, the use of nanocellulose in the packaging industry is anticipated to fuel the nanocellulose market growth.
•  Growing Demand from Multiple Industries - Cellulose is the most abundant polymer on earth, and 1.5 trillion tons of cellulose is produced annually, whereas nanocellulose, which can currently be produced on an industrial scale at tons per day, is gaining popularity owing to its rising use in several fields, such as nanocomposite materials, wood adhesives, supercapacitors, biomedical products, batteries, template for electronic components, catalytic supports, electroactive polymers, food coatings, barrier/separation membranes, antimicrobial films, continuous fibers and textiles, paper products, cosmetic, cement, and many other emerging uses. Hence, its augmenting demand is expected to boost market growth.

Challenges

• High Cost & Complex Process - typical methods for nanocellulose extraction from cellulosic materials have limitations such as the high amount of acid wastewater generation for acid hydrolysis, high energy consumption for mechanical process, and long reaction time for enzymatic hydrolysis. Hence, the complexity involves in the extraction of these biomaterials raises its cost, hampering the market growth.
• High Competition from Cheaper Alternatives like Rubber & Plastic
• Lack of Awareness About the Product