China Leads as New Regulations Redefine the Bioplastics Market

According to OECD estimates, plastic production is expected to at least double by 2050, posing significant challenges to sustainable management, including high CO₂ emissions from petrochemical feedstocks and end-of-life disposal. While recycling is often viewed as a solution, it cannot meet the growing plastic demand alone. Therefore, sustainable alternatives like bioplastics, along with extensive recycling, are essential to meeting plastic demand without exacerbating environmental impact.

 

IDTechEx has recently published a market research report covering the bioplastics market. In "Bioplastics 2025-2035: Technology, Market, Players and Forecasts" the full spectrum of plastics derived from biobased feedstocks, including biodegradable plastics, such as poly-lactic acids (PLAs) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), but also non-biodegradable plastics such as polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) among many others, is examined.

 

 

Legislation concerning bioplastics has somewhat lagged behind some of those aimed at plastics recycling. For example, many regulations ensuring minimum levels of recycled content in new plastic do not exempt bioplastics from the calculation. In these jurisdictions, this is a missed opportunity to encourage bioplastics adoption.

 

 

 

However, the most transformational legislation affecting the bioplastics market has been the bans on single-use plastic packaging with an exemption on biodegradable alternatives. China stands out in this area, not just because of the size of the Chinese market but because China has encouraged the use of biodegradable plastics as an acceptable alternative. This is unlike other developed countries that have approached the problem of single-use plastics by mandating the use of alternative materials such as paper and wood. As a result, the Chinese market has seen an explosion in the production capacity for PLA, a biodegradable bioplastic, producing all sorts of items from single-use cutlery and cups to biodegradable plastic bags. One of the effects of this shift in the market is that between 2025 and 2035, IDTechEx has forecast that PLA will increase its market share quite significantly, with it expected to hold around 30% of the bioplastics installed capacity. However, not all biodegradable plastics are bioplastics, and some of the copolymers used, such as PBAT, are derived from petrochemical feedstocks. It would take further legislation to restrict the acceptable polymers to only include bioplastics, but the overwhelming benefits received from biodegradability mean this is not a priority for legislators.

 

 

The myriad of legislation affecting bioplastics involves those touching several different areas, from CO₂ emissions regulations to extended producer responsibility (EPR) and more. Understanding the global trends in government legislation is key to understanding the market's direction going forward. IDTechEx provides an overview of legislative trends and their impact on the bioplastics market within their report.

 

Biodegradable bioplastics also have the upside of improving waste management. However, depending on the polymer composition and plastic format, the biodegradability of bioplastics varies significantly from home compostable to industrial compostable. A current drawback is the limited infrastructure in place to industrially compost materials like PLA. This will require government action and investment from plastics supply chain players to improve composting infrastructure. Another concern raised by companies adopting bioplastics is the effect of biodegradability on shelf life, which can affect supply chains. Ultimately, the market will need to adapt to these new materials in the long term.

 

The uptake of non-biodegradable bioplastics, often for performance applications, has been slower but is now accelerating. This has been driven primarily by companies trying to reduce their carbon emissions. Using bioplastics is a way to significantly reduce these Scope 3 emissions, as end-to-end emissions of bioplastics are lower than conventional petrochemical plastics. One of the key limiting factors in this drive is the price of bioplastics, which are notably higher than their petrochemical counterparts. While this is expected to be mitigated by scaling bioplastics production, price will likely continue to be a sticking point for many end-users. The shift in the Chinese market highlights how government action can overcome these barriers to adoption; how this will develop in other application areas, such as performance applications, is yet to be seen but will likely be crucial to developing application areas outside of single-use plastics.

 

 

 

The market penetration of bioplastics is currently minuscule compared to the total volume of petrochemical-derived plastics that are produced annually. IDTechEx estimates in their market report that even with a CAGR of 12.4% over the next 10 years by 2035, the market penetration will be around 1.72%. This may seem small, but it could mark the start of a significant shift away from the use of conventional plastic materials.

 

IDTechEx is showcasing its newest and most extensive market report yet on bioplastics entitled "Bioplastics 2025-2035: Technology, Market, Players, and Forecasts". The report looks to analyze the effect of regulations and more by covering in depth the bioplastics market, including independent analysis of technology developments and trends, plant capacities, industry news, company landscapes, market information, partnership information, and segmented polymer production forecasts.

 

The report segments and discusses the market by bioplastic types, looking at the drivers and constraints of each segment. These segments are extrapolated in the 10-year forecast to explore the segments' technology readiness, potential for market disruption, and the landscape for planned capacity expansions.

 

For more information on this report, including downloadable sample pages, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Bioplastics.

 

 

For the full portfolio of sustainability research available from IDTechEx, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research/Sustainability.

Are Regulations Finally Bringing the Bioplastics Revolution?

 

James Kennedy, Technology Analyst at IDTechEx and author of this article, will be presenting a free-to-attend webinar on the topic on Thursday 10 October 2024 - Are Regulations Finally Bringing the Bioplastics Revolution?

 

In this webinar, IDTechEx examines the role of regulation in the bioplastics market and the overall trends, including key challenges. Additionally, how the applications of bioplastics are expanding as new areas are explored notably in performance applications such as automotive. Finally, the relatively novel and developing field of bio-composites which are showing great promise with a wide variety of applications but comes with unique challenges.

 

The webinar will include:

 

 

We will be holding exactly the same webinar three times in one day. Please click here to register for the session most convenient for you.

 

If you are unable to make the date, please register anyway to receive the links to the on-demand recording (available for a limited time) and webinar slides as soon as they are available.

IDTechEx provides trusted independent research on emerging technologies and their markets. Since 1999, we have been helping our clients to understand new technologies, their supply chains, market requirements, opportunities and forecasts. For more information, contact research@IDTechEx.com or visit www.IDTechEx.com.