The results of European Bioplastics’ annual market data update, presented today (5 November) at the 10th European Bioplastics Conference in Berlin, confirm the positive growth trend of the global bioplastics industry.
“The market is predicted to grow by more than 350 percent in the mid-term,” says François de Bie, Chairman of European Bioplastics. The data compiled in cooperation with the research institutes IfBB – Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites (University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hannover, Germany) and novaInstitute (Hürth, Germany) shows that the global bioplastics production capacity is set to increase from around 1.7 million tonnes in 2014 to approximately 7.8 million tonnes in 2019.
Biobased, non-biodegradable plastics, such as biobased PE and biobased PET, are the main drivers of this growth. More than 60 percent of the bioplastics production capacity worldwide in 2014 was biobased, durable plastics. This share will increase to over 80 percent in 2019. Production capacities of biodegradable plastics, such as PLA, PHA, and starch blends, are also growing steadily, nearly doubling from 0.7 million tonnes in 2014 to well over 1.2 million tonnes in 2019. PHA production will double by 2019 compared to 2014, due to a ramp-up of old and new capacities in Asia and the USA. “It seems that compostable plastics are moving from niche to mainstream and many compostable plastics have found their true added value applications,” explains de Bie.