6/3/2016

Whatthefutureisbringing:trendstowatchinbioplastics|PlasticsToday

Sign

Search For...

in | Join
Sponsored by:

Home

End Markets

Topics

Events

Webinars

Whitepapers

Home

What the future is bringing: trends to watch in bioplastics

ByKaren Lairdin3D Printing, Materials, BusinessonDecember 24, 2014

When, in the past, bioplastics were more or less equated with lackluster, tired-looking
materials mainly derived from starch, few in the industry took their use very seriously. Poor
processability combined with indierent mechanical properties and uncertain availability
meant that their main advantage was, if anything, biodegradabilty and applications were
mainly conned to golf tees and owerpots. All that has changed, however. As the industry
matures, the range of materials qualifying as bioplastics has expanded dramatically.
Bioplastics today can be derived from biomass - but also from petroleum. They may be
suitable for home composting - or for industrial composting only. Some are biodegradable but only under certain, specied conditions. Many bioplastics have been developed for
durable applications; like their conventional counterparts, they are suitable for recycling thermal and mechanical. Applications range from the automotive industry to teabags, and a
great deal in between. Bioplastics, in short, make up a wide and varied group of materials, in
which a lot is going on.
A few ways in which the bioplastics winds are blowing:
1. Growth - and a lot of it.
Bioplastics are a growth market. In fact, just three weeks ago chairman of European
Bioplastics Francois de Bie, announced at the 2014 Bioplastics conference that "bioplastics
Recommended
Reading
would exhibit 'stellar' growth"; this, on the basis of the recently
released
newest data from
this association forecasting a growth in global production capacity
of over
400% through
UPS launches
on2018, to approximately 6.7 million metric tons. Demand is demand
expected3D-printing
to show robust growth
in all geographic regions, as consumers increasingly turn tonetwork
renewably sourced and
sustainable materials and - especially with the availability of so-called drop-ins - bioplastics
gain the acceptance of the plastics industry, i.e. compounders and processors, as well as of
major brand owners. China, for example, is becoming a huge consumer of bioplastic resins,
http://www.plasticstoday.com/whatfuturebringingtrendswatchbioplastics/23323102621674

1/1