BIOPLASTICS | MATERIALS
Bioplastic consumption is slowly but steadily growing and, with the circular economy gaining pace, beginning to move beyond packaging to more demanding engineered applications. Mark Holmes reports
Steady gains for bioplastics
The production and use of bioplastic compounds continues to grow, albeit at a modest pace. Packaging, where consumer demand for sustain- able solutions is strongest, remains the biggest opportunity area but other applications are also developing. Bespoke bioplastic compounders, as well as compounders replicating existing ranges with raw materials from renewable sources, are now identifying opportunities in automotive, consumer and industrial goods while manufactur- ers of specialist fillers are developing products that can take bioplastic compounds to a new level. Despite the high interest in bioplastics, growth
rates are generally in line with overall polymer demand. In its most recent market update, Euro- pean Bioplastics predicted growth of more 15% over the next five years. That forecast was delivered at the trade association’s 14th
European Bioplastics
Conference in Berlin, Germany, in December last year, so before the emergence of Covid-19. Clearly, the sector will have been impacted by the pandem- ic but most would expect bioplastics to at least hold their own against conventional polymers
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considering what European Bioplastics Managing Director Hasso von Pogrell describes as a “steadily increasing demand for sustainable products by both consumers and brands alike.” The association’s pre-Covid analysis forecast global bioplastics production capacity to increase from around 2.1m tonnes in 2019 to 2.4 m tonnes in 2024. Biopolymers such as PHA (polyhydroxyal- kanoate) are expected to drive this growth. PHAs entered the market at a larger commercial scale than earlier bioplastics and capacity is forecast to more than triple over the next five years (PHAs are bio-based polyesters that are biodegradable and offer good physical and mechanical properties). Production capacities for bio-based PP are also
expected to grow over the coming years, as is capacity for bio-based PE. Earlier expectations for expansion of production of bio-based PET, how- ever, have not been realised. In fact, production has declined over recent years as the focus of develop- ment has shifted to PEF (polyethylene furanoate), a new polymer that is expected to enter the market in 2023. PEF is comparable to PET but is fully
Main image: Bioplastics continue to attract attention but focus may be moving from alternative polymers to renewable versions of established plastics produced from plants such as sugar cane
September 2020 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 17
IMAGE: AVIENT
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