While bioplastics represent only 1% of the total plastics market today, the amount is estimated to grow to 7% by 2020, as per a NanoMarkets' report. Market drivers include recyclability of bio-based PA, PE and PET and the bio-degradability/compostability of other bioplastics. The sector will benefit from European and Japanese mandates favoring compostable/recyclable materials, along with the involvement of prominent firms such as BASF and Dow Chemical which are investing billions of dollars into bioplastics. To reach full potential, bioplastics must come down in price from current levels that are two-to-three times that of fossil-based plastics.

This sector is also highly capital intensive. For every one million tons of bio-plastics production capacity, at least US$1.25 billion is invested. Cost reductions will be achieved through economies of scale and by using less expensive feedstocks. For example; switching to cassava for bio-PLA will reduce feedstock cost by 70%. Another factor that will help bio-plastics will be ongoing technical improvements such as better barrier coatings. The consumption of bioplastics by the packaging industry will amount to 1.3 billion tons in 2013; almost 75% of bioplastics shipped. Packaging will still hold a 65% share of the bio-plastics market as late as 2020. For plastic bottles, bio-PET is expected to totally replace fossil-based plastics and PLA foamed structures are expected to take a noticeable share of the food container segment. The other big bioplastics opportunity lies in the automotive segment, which is expected to consume just 75 million tons of bio-plastics in 2013 but more than 10 times that amount in 2018. Bridgestone and Cooper Tire are developing bioplastic tires and bio-based butadiene tires will be retailing by 2014. Mitsubishi is doing R&D work on bio-plastics for automotive interior parts. Bio-plastics that are expected to be used in the automotive segment include PLA blends, bio-PA, bio-PE, and bio-PET. Bioplastics production is shifting to Asia and South America, closer to where feedstocks are grown. By 2020, nearly 80% of bioplastics will be produced in these regions. Chinese companies are already producing bioplastics even as companies such as Arkema and BASF are investing in the Chinese bioplastic sector. Chinese domestic consumption for bioplastics will also grow rapidly, but will be constrained by Chinese government concerns with using food crops for feedstocks. For the past 2 years, starch based bioplastics and PLA based bioplastics have witnessed increased growth. The demand for starch based and PLA based bioplastics will rise by 2 times in the next 2 years. However, with PHA having reached commercial scale, it is increasingly being used in many bioplastic applications because of its numerous unique properties. Many on-going projects charter to the entry of bioplastics into medical, electronics and automotive applications and NanoMarkets expects a slew of innovative products to be launched in bioplastics in the coming years.

The bioplastics market of around 1.2 mln tons in 2011 will see a five-fold increase in production volumes by 2016 � to an anticipated almost 6 mln tons. This is the result of the current market forecast, which the industry association European Bioplastics publishes annually in cooperation with the Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites from the University of Hannover. The worldwide production capacity for bioplastics will increase from around 1.2 mln tons in 2011 to approximately 5.8 mln tons by 2016. By far the strongest growth will be in the biobased, non-biodegradable bioplastics group. Especially the so-called �drop-in' solutions, i.e. biobased versions of bulk plastics like PE and PET, that merely differ from their conventional counterparts in terms of their renewable raw material base, are building up large capacities. Leading the field is partially biobased PET, which is already accounting for approximately 40% of the global bioplastics production capacity. Partially biobased PET will continue to extend this lead to more than 4.6 mln tons by 2016. That would correspond to 80% of the total bioplastics production capacity. Following PET is biobased PE with 250,000 tons, constituting more than 4% of the total production capacity. Biodegradable plastics production capacity will increase by two-thirds by 2016. Leading contributors to this growth will be PLA and PHA, each of them accounting for 298,000 tons (+60%) and 142,000 tons (+700%) respectively. A trend to be observed is the geographic distribution of production capacities. Europe and North America remain interesting as locations for research and development and also important as sales markets.

美国对生物塑料的需求预计将攀升t a 20% annual pace through 2016 to 550 mln lbs, valued at US$680 mln. Although they have achieved a considerable degree of commercial success, bioplastics remain in an early stage of development, representing only a small niche within the overall plastics industry. Going forward, technical innovations that enhance the properties of bioplastics and lower their price will drive growth, as per The Freedonia Group. Although biodegradable resins accounted for the vast majority of bioplastics volume in 2011, the emergence of non-biodegradable bioresins will dramatically alter the market landscape going forward. By 2021, these materials will represent more than two-fifths of volume demand, up from 1% in 2011. Growth will be propelled by large-volume production of bio-based polyethylene, as well as the eventual commercialization of bio-based PET, polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride. Since these resins are chemically identical to their conventional counterparts, market acceptance is forecast to occur at a rapid rate. Among these bio-based plastics, PET is projected to offer significant growth potential over the longer term, particularly as large corporations - especially those in the soft drink industry - are investing heavily in the development of this material. Polylactic acid is expected to remain the most extensively used resin in the bioplastics market through the forecast period, despite issues regarding the inability of biodegradable products such as PLA to decompose in landfills and their potential to contaminate the recycling stream. Advances will be promoted by a widening composting network and greater processor familiarity, as well as ongoing efforts to diversify PLA feedstocks, as critics cite the food versus fuel debate and the energy- and pesticide-intensive nature of corn production as a key drawback of biopolymers. Bio-based polyethylene PE, which entered the market in 2010, is expected to offer the best opportunities for growth through 2016, increasing rapidly from a small base. These exceptionally strong gains are predicated on the expansion of production capacity, which will reduce prices and enable this resin to compete more effectively with its petroleum-based counterpart.