The increase in the use of bioplastics is driven by an increasing demand for sustainable products by consumers due to a growing awareness of the impact on the environment. To the environmentally conscious customer, the advantages of being biobased give bioplastics the competitive edge to conventional plastics. About 80 percent of European consumers [...]
The number of brand owners that apply bioplastics in their solutions is growing steadily. Prominent examples of big brands that have introduced bioplastic packaging are Danone, Coca-Cola (PlantBottle), and Ecover (cleaning products). The supermarket chains Carrefour, Sainsbury, Billa, Spar and Hofer offer different packaging products and/or shopping bags made of bioplastics. In the [...]
Bioplastics have a multitude of durable but also short-lived applications. Durable, biobased commodity plastics such as biobased PE or biobased PET are used for short-life applications such as packaging as well as for long-lasting applications such as car parts, toys, or consumer electronics that can be easily recycled in existing streams. These so [...]
Today, there is pretty much nothing that bioplastics can’t do. For almost every conventional plastic material and application, there is a bioplastic alternative available that offers the same or in some cases even better properties and functionalities. Today, bioplastics are mainly being used in the following market segments: Packaging Food-services Agriculture & horticulture [...]
The cost of research and development still makes up for a share of investment in bioplastics and has an impact on material and product prices. Additionally, the currently low oil prices are making it difficult for bioplastics to achieve competitive pricing levels compared to conventional plastics at present. However, prices have continuously been [...]
With the right legislative framework and market conditions in place, the European bioplastics industry could offer an immense employment growth potential. From 23,000 employees in 2013, the bioplastics industry could grow to 300,000 high-skilled jobs in 2030. The bioplastics industry could provide new impulses for the development of rural areas in Europe by [...]