The Global Microplastics and Alternatives Market 2026-2036

1.1        Addressing plastic pollution
1.2        Microplastic environmental contamination
1.2.1     Primary microplastics
1.2.1.1  Primary microparticles volume in Metric Tons, By Market
1.2.1.2  By region
1.3        Microplastics Regulations
1.3.1     Overview
1.3.2     Regulatory landscape expansion
1.3.3     The European Union
1.4        Microplastic restrictions
1.4.1     Planned phase-outs by jurisdiction
1.5        Corporate activity
1.6        Microplastics Removal
1.6.1     Technologies
1.6.2     Companies
1.7        Alternatives to Microplastics
1.7.1     Transition to alternative formulations
1.7.2     Challenges
1.7.3     Biodegradable plastics
1.7.4     Companies
1.8        Environmental Impact Assessment
1.8.1     Marine pollution and microplastic accumulation
1.8.2     Toxicological effects on marine life
1.8.3     Human health implications

2.1        What are microplastics?
2.1.1     Classification
2.1.2     Function and applications
2.1.3     Environmental concerns
2.1.4     Primary microplastics
2.1.5     Secondary microplastics
2.1.6     Microbeads vs microplastics
2.2        Microplastics release
2.2.1     To marine environments
2.2.1.1  Economic effects
2.2.2     Via primary and secondary sources
2.2.3     Environmental persistence of plastic products
2.2.4     Human health concerns
2.3        Regulatory approaches to microplastic mitigation

3.1        Plastic Pellets
3.2        Agricultural
3.2.1     Intentional microplastics
3.2.2     Sewage sludge
3.3        Textiles
3.4        Cosmetics and Personal Care Products
3.5        Detergents and Air Care
3.6        Medical Products and Systems
3.7        Oil & Gas
3.8        Paints and Coatings
3.9        Plastic Waste
3.9.1     By market/application
3.9.2     By source
3.9.3     By region

4.1        Strategies
4.2        Policy instruments
4.3        Current policy trajectories
4.4        Current and planned regulations
4.4.1     Global initiatives and policies
4.4.2     Vehicle-related particulate emissions
4.4.3     Microbeads
4.4.4     Oxo-Degradable Plastics
4.4.5     The Basel Convention
4.4.6     The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
4.4.7     Global support for Plastic Treaties
4.5        Europe
4.5.1     Overview
4.5.2     EU Regulations
4.5.3     REACH Restriction on Intentionally Added Microplastics
4.5.4     Implementation timeline for EU microplastic sales restrictions
4.5.5     Items Out of Scope
4.5.6     Plastic Pellets Regulation
4.5.7     EU Drinking Water Directive
4.5.8     Vehicle emission regulation
4.6        US
4.6.1     Overview
4.6.2     Regulatory frameworks
4.6.3     Federal legislation
4.7        Industry Commitments

5.1        Microplastic Analysis
5.2        Standardized Analytical Methods for Microplastics
5.3        Microplastic Characterization
5.4        Advanced Analytical Methods
5.4.1     Hyperspectral Imaging
5.4.2     Multi-photon Microscopy
5.4.3     Quantum cascade laser infrared (QCL-IR) microscopy
5.4.3.1  Optical Photothermal Infrared

6.1        Microplastic Capture
6.1.1     Technologies
6.1.1.1  Plastic pellet containment
6.1.2     Companies
6.2        Filtration and Removal
6.2.1     Aquatic environments
6.2.2     Conventional wastewater treatment
6.2.3     Media Filtration
6.2.4     Biomimetic approach to microplastic capture
6.2.5     Silica Beads
6.2.6     Microplastic Filtration Systems for Washing Machines
6.2.7     Textiles

7.1        Introduction
7.2        Likelihood of market penetration of natural microplastic alternatives, by market
7.2.1     Market penetration barriers and challenges
7.2.2     Adoption timeline and market readiness assessment
7.3        Biodegradable plastics
7.3.1     Biodegradability
7.3.1.1  Improving Biodegradability of Plastic Materials
7.3.1.2  Marine Degradation of Biodegradable Plastics
7.3.1.3  Biodegradable micro-encapsulation
7.3.1.4  Biodegradable Plastics in Agriculture
7.3.2     Global bioplastics regulations
7.3.3     Fossil-based biodegradable polymers
7.3.4     Polylactic Acid (PLA)
7.3.5     Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)
7.3.6     Bio-Based Succinic Acid and PBS
7.3.7     Polysaccharides
7.3.8     Companies
7.4        Biobased Microbeads
7.4.1     Biodegradation mechanisms and timeframes
7.4.2     Natural hard materials
7.4.3     Natural polymers
7.4.3.1  Polysaccharides
7.4.3.1.1           Starch
7.4.3.1.1.1      Applications and commercial status
7.4.3.1.1.2      Companies
7.4.3.1.2           Cellulose
7.4.3.1.2.1      Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)
7.4.3.1.2.1.1  Applications and commercial status
7.4.3.1.2.1.2  Companies
7.4.3.1.2.2      Regenerated cellulose microspheres
7.4.3.1.2.2.1  Applications and commercial status
7.4.3.1.2.2.2  Companies
7.4.3.1.2.3      Cellulose nanocrystals
7.4.3.1.2.3.1  Applications and commercial status
7.4.3.1.2.3.2  Companies
7.4.3.1.2.4      Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC)
7.4.3.1.2.4.1  Applications and commercial status
7.4.3.1.2.4.2  Companies
7.4.3.1.3           Chitin
7.4.3.1.3.1      Applications and commercial status
7.4.3.1.3.2      Companies
7.4.3.2   Proteins
7.4.3.2.1           Collagen/Gelatin
7.4.3.2.1.1      Applications and commercial status
7.4.3.2.2           Casein
7.4.3.2.2.1      Applications and commercial status
7.4.3.3   Polyesters
7.4.3.3.1           Polyhydroxyalkanoates
7.4.3.3.1.1      Applications and commercial status
7.4.3.3.1.2      Companies
7.4.3.3.2           Polylactic acid
7.4.3.3.2.1      Applications and commercial status
7.4.3.3.2.2      Companies
7.4.3.4   Other natural polymers
7.4.3.4.1           Lignin
7.4.3.4.1.1      Description
7.4.3.4.1.2      Applications and commercial status
7.4.3.4.1.3      Companies
7.4.3.4.2           Alginate
7.4.3.4.2.1      Applications and commercial status
7.4.3.4.2.2      Companies
7.4.4      Manufacturing Technologies and Processes
7.4.4.1   Melt processing and extrusion techniques
7.4.4.2   Solvent-based production methods
7.4.4.3   Emulsion and spray-drying technologies
7.4.4.4   Quality control and particle size distribution
7.5         Personal care
7.5.1      Market overview
7.5.2      Applications
7.5.3      Brand adoption case studies
7.5.3.1   Unilever
7.5.3.2   L'Oréal
7.5.3.3   Procter & Gamble
7.5.4      Consumer acceptance and willingness to pay
7.5.5      Total quantity of microplastics present 2024-2036 (MT), by scale
7.6         Cosmetics
7.6.1      Market overview
7.6.2      Applications
7.6.3      Total quantity of microplastics present 2024-2036, by scale
7.7         Agriculture and horticulture
7.7.1      Market overview
7.7.2      Applications
7.7.3      Total quantity of microplastics present 2024-2036 (MT), by scale
7.8         Paints & coatings
7.8.1      Market overview
7.8.2      Applications
7.8.3      Total quantity of microplastics present 2024-2036 (MT), by scale
7.9         Soap, detergents and maintenance products
7.9.1      Market overview
7.9.2      Applications
7.9.3      Total quantity of microplastics present 2024-2036 (MT), by scale
7.10       Oil and gas
7.10.1    Market overview
7.10.2    Applications
7.10.3    Total quantity of microplastics present 2024-2036 (MT), by scale
7.11       Medical products
7.11.1    Market overview
7.11.2    Applications
7.11.3    Total quantity of microplastics present 2024-2036 (MT), by scale
7.12       Emerging Applications
7.12.1    3D printing and additive manufacturing
7.12.2    Textile and fibres
7.12.3    Food packaging and biodegradable films

8.1        Implementation challenges
8.2        Reformulation Challenges
8.3        Global regulatory outlook

Table 1. Frameworks for tackling microplastic and macroplastic contamination.
Table 2. Microplastic environmental contamination pathways.
Table 3. Global market for primary microparticles 2017-2024, by Market, (Metric Tons).
Table 4. Global Market for Primary Microparticles 2025-2036, by Market (Metric Tons).
Table 5. Global Market Size by Region 2017-2024, Primary Microparticles (Metric Tons).
Table 6. Global market for primary microparticles 2025-2036, by region, (Metric Tons).
Table 7. Global Microplastics Regulations.
Table 8. Governance of plastic pollution .
Table 9. Emerging focus areas in plastic pollution.
Table 10. Planned microplastics phase-outs.
Table 11. Phase-out plans by country/region.
Table 12. Corporate committments to microplastics reduction.
Table 13. Microplastics Removal Technologies,
Table 14. Comparative Analysis of microplastic capture technologies
Table 15. Companies developing capture and detection technologies.
Table 16. Challenges in transition from conventional microplastic-containing products to alternative formulations.
Table 17. Biodegradable Plastics.
Table 18. Microplastic alternatives by market.
Table 19. Companies producing microplastic alternative products.
Table 20. Microplastics environmental impact assessment.
Table 21. Summary of functions and applications for microplastics.
Table 22. Types of polymer in secondary microplastics.
Table 23. Microplastics release through primary and secondary sources.
Table 24. Lifespan of plastic products.
Table 25. Human health concerns related to microplastic exposure .
Table 26. Regulatory strategies for tackling microplastics
Table 27. Risk assessment of microplastics.
Table 28. Sources of plastic pellets.
Table 29. Volume of Plastic Waste by Application.
Table 30. Macro and Microplastics Released into the Environment by Source.
Table 31. Macroplastics Released into the Environment by region.
Table 32. Microplastics Released into the Environment by region.
Table 33. Mitigation Strategies for Plastic Pollution and Microplastics .
Table 34. Policies to Mitigate Plastic Waste.
Table 35. Current policy trajectories .
Table 36. Regulations for the Governance of Plastic Pollution.
Table 37. International initiatives and policies on microplastics pollution.
Table 38. Regulations on Non-Exhaustive Particulate Emissions from Vehicles.
Table 39. Regulations on Banning and Phasing Out Microbeads in Rinse-Off Products.
Table 40. Regulatory restrictions on Qxo-degradable plastics.
Table 41. Plastic reduction policies in Europe.
Table 42. EU Microplastics Regulations.
Table 43. Implementation timeline for EU microplastic sales restrictions .
Table 44. Items Out of Scope.
Table 45. Timelines for Ban for Items Out of Scope.
Table 46. EU Legislation to Address Microplastic Pollution from Plastic Pellets.
Table 47. US regulation on microplastics pollution.
Table 48. Federal legislation in the United States for addressing microplastic pollution.
Table 49. Federal regulations addressing microplastic pollution.
Table 50. Microplastics analysis methods.
Table 51. Standardized analytical methods for microplastics .
Table 52. Microplastic characterization tools.
Table 53. Main Microplastic Capture Technologies.
Table 54. Companies developing Capture Technologies.
Table 55. Filtration Systems for Textiles.
Table 56. Microplastic alternatives by market.
Table 57. Likelihood of market penetration of natural microplastic alternatives, by main markets.
Table 58. Market penetration barriers and challenges
Table 59. Biodegradable polymers.
Table 60. Advanced Methods for Improving Biodegradability of Plastic Materials.
Table 61. Biodegradable Micro-encapsulation Technology.
Table 62. Agricultural Applications of Biodegradable Plastics.
Table 63. Global bioplastics regulation.
Table 64. Companies producing Biodegradable Polymers.
Table 65. Microplastic Alternative Products companies.
Table 66. Biodegradation mechanisms and timeframes.
Table 67. Performance comparison vs. conventional microplastics.
Table 68.Companies developing starch microspheres/microbeads.
Table 69. Companies developing microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) spheres/beads.
Table 70. Companies developing cellulose microbeads.
Table 71. CNC properties.
Table 72. Applications of cellulose nanocrystals (NCC).
Table 73. Companies developing cellulose nanocrystal microbeads.
Table 74. Cellulose nanocrystal production capacities and production process, by producer.
Table 75. Applications of bacterial nanocellulose (BNC).
Table 76. Companies developing bacterial nanocellulose microbeads.
Table 77.Companies developing chitin microspheres/microbeads.
Table 78.Types of PHAs and properties.
Table 79. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) producers.
Table 80. Companies developing PHA for microbeads.
Table 81. PLA producers and production capacities.
Table 82. Technical lignin types and applications.
Table 83. Properties of lignins and their applications.
Table 84. Production capacities of technical lignin producers.
Table 85. Production capacities of biorefinery lignin producers.
Table 86. Companies developing lignin for microbeads (current or potential applications).
Table 87. Companies developing alginate for microbeads (current or potential applications).
Table 88. Manufacturing Technologies and Processes for Biobased Microbeads.
Table 89. Personal care products containing primary microplastics.
Table 90. Alternative Microplastic Materials in Personal Care.
Table 91. Total quantity of microplastics present in personal care products 2024-2036 (MT), by scale.
Table 92. Types of Microplastics in Cosmetics.
Table 93. Alternative Microplastic Materials in Cosmetics.
Table 94. Total quantity of microplastics present in cosmetics 2024-2036 (MT), by scale.
Table 95. Types of Microplastics in Agriculture and Horticulture.
Table 96. Agriculture and horticulture products containing microplastics.
Table 97. Alternative Microplastic Materials in Agriculture and Horticulture.
Table 98. Total quantity of microplastics present in agriculture and horticulture 2024-2036 (MT), by scale.
Table 99. Types of Microplastics in Paints and Coatings.
Table 100. Alternative Microplastic Materials in Paints and Coatings.
Table 101. Total quantity of microplastics present in paints and coatings 2024-2036 (MT), by scale.
Table 102. Soaps, detergents and maintenance products containing microplastics.
Table 103. Alternative Microplastic Materials in Soap, Detergents, and Maintenance Products.
Table 104. Total quantity of microplastics present in Soaps, detergents and maintenance products 2024-2036 (MT), by scale.
Table 105. Types of Microplastics in Oil and Gas.
Table 106. Alternative Microplastic Materials in Oil and Gas.
Table 107. Total quantity of microplastics present in oil and gas 2024-2036 (MT), by scale.
Table 108. Example microsphere products in drug delivery.
Table 109. Medical products containing microplastics.
Table 110. Alternative Microplastic Materials in Medical Products.
Table 111. Total quantity of microplastics present in medicinal products 2024-2036 (MT), by scale.
Table 112. Biobased Microbeads in Emerging Applications
Table 113. Biobased microbeads in 3D printing and additive manufacturing.
Table 114. Biobased microbeads in Textile and fibre applications.
Table 115. Biobased microbeads in Food packaging and biodegradable films.
Table 116. Implementation Challenges for Microplastics Reduction.
Table 117. Reformulation Challenges.
Table 118. Global Regulatory Outlook
Table 119. Lactips plastic pellets.

Figure 1. Global market for primary microparticles 2017-2024, by Market, (Metric Tons).
Figure 2. Global market for primary microparticles 2024-2036, by Market, (Metric Tons).
Figure 3. Global market size by region 2020-2024, primary microparticles, (Metric Tons).
Figure 4. Global market for primary microparticles 2025-2036, by region, (Metric Tons).
Figure 5. Typical sources of primary microplastics.
Figure 6. Adoption timeline and market readiness assessment.
Figure 7. Bacterial nanocellulose shapes.
Figure 8. Total quantity of microplastics present in personal care products 2024-2036 (MT), by scale.
Figure 9. Toothpaste incorporating microbeads.
Figure 10. Total quantity of microplastics present in cosmetics 2024-2036 (MT), by scale.
Figure 11. Total quantity of microplastics present in agriculture and horticulture 2024-2036 (MT), by scale.
Figure 12. Total quantity of microplastics present in paints and coatings 2024-2036 (MT), by scale.
Figure 13. Total quantity of microplastics present in Soaps, detergents and maintenance products 2024-2036 (MT), by scale.
Figure 14. Total quantity of microplastics present in oil and gas 2024-2036 (MT), by scale.
Figure 15. Total quantity of microplastics present in medicinal products 2024-2036 (MT), by scale.
Figure 16. Pressurized Hot Water Extraction.
Figure 17. BELLOCEA™.
Figure 18. VIVAPUR® MCC Spheres.
Figure 19. Viscopearl®.
Figure 20. Supramolecular plastic that dissolves in seawater.
Figure 21. The Proesa® Process.
Figure 22. VYLD’s Kelpon tampon made from seaweed.