The Global Bioplastics Market

A Measurement System to Spark Companies 2 Action (C2A)—Innovation That Fuels New Deal Flow and Growth Pipelines

Leading participants in the global bioplastics market are developing high-performance and sustainable products from bio-based derivatives. As more and more companies focus on reducing their dependence on crude oil and reducing the amount of waste in landfills and oceans, end-user industries are seeking cost-effective bio-based alternatives for packaging, cosmetic ingredients, and other uses. Governments and industry organizations are influencing the transition with standards or regulations either encouraging or mandating the use of environmentally friendly bio-based products. Consumers also are demanding greener and safer products.

There are challenges in the industry, however. Concerns about the supply of raw materials, difficulties in persuading investors to fund research and development initiatives, and higher prices of bio-based materials have restrained growth.

Bioplastics are either biodegradable or non-biodegradable. Non-biodegradable polymers had a 56.8% share of the market in 2018. They have a chemical similarity to their synthetic counterparts: some are easy to drop into the existing value chain, so it is easier to persuade customers to use them in their production processes. Polylactic acid (PLA), poly-hydroxy-alkanoate (PHA), and starch blends are biodegradable and compostable. PLA offers transparency, gloss, stiffness, printability, and processability, and is an excellent aroma barrier - all of which are common demands in packaging. The author estimated the 2024 opportunity size of global bioplastics market to be $20.48 billion.

For this research, a unique and robust platform was used to analyze the market and identify Companies to Action (C2A) based on their growth indicators and recent innovations and growth strategies. Companies that are positioned in the Radar are Braskem, Corbion, Novamont, NatureWorks, BASF, DuPont, Arkema, and DSM.

The Radar reveals the market positioning of companies in an industry using their Growth and Innovation scores as highlighted in the Radar methodology. The document presents competitive profiles on each of the companies based on their strengths, opportunities, and a small discussion on their positioning. A number of companies were analyzed (across all tiers of competition) in the industry and benchmarked across 10 criteria on the Radar, where the leading companies in the industry are then positioned. Industry leaders on both the Growth and Innovation indices are recognized as best practice recipients.