Bioplastics Statistics By Production, Material Type, Usage, Region And Trends
Updated · Dec 04, 2024
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Introduction
Bioplastics Statistics: Throughout 2024, the bioplastics industry in the world will be growing at a fast pace chiefly because of the increase in environmental awareness and demand for sustainable materials. They are an alternative by definition to usual plastics as bioplastics could be from renewable sources such as variation in plants or biodegradation over time.
Here is an extensive account of the latest bioplastic statistics and trends in the industry for the year 2024.
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- Global bioplastic production capacity was 2.1 million tons in 2019 and is projected to reach 2.4 million tons by 2024.
- In 2023, bioplastics production capacity was 2.18 million tons, expected to rise to 7.43 million tons by 2028.
- Bioplastics were composed of 47.9% biobased non-biodegradable materials and 52.1% biodegradable materials in 2023. By 2028, the share is expected to shift to 38.0% biobased non-biodegradable and 62.0% biodegradable materials.
- Polylactic acid (PLA) dominated with a 43.6% share in 2023, projected to decline to 31.0% by 2028.
- Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) contributions are expected to grow by 13.5% by 2028.
- Packaging is the largest application of bioplastics, holding 43% market share in 2023 and is forecasted to rise to 48% by 2028.
- The fiber market share is expected to drop from 21% in 2023 to 13% by 2028.
- Consumer goods bioplastic consumption reached 291,400 metric tons in 2023, compared to 126,000 metric tons in 2014—an increase of 131% over nine years.
- Asia accounted for 41.4% of bioplastic production in 2022, with China emerging as a key player. Europe followed with 26.5%.
- Flexible packaging held the largest market segment in 2022, producing 696 thousand metric tons, while rigid packaging followed with 376 thousand metric tons.
- PLA and starch blends led bioplastics types in 2022, with shares of 20.7% and 17.9%, respectively.
- The bio-based version of PET made up 4.2% of global bioplastics production capacity.
- Manufacturing energy consumption for bioplastics is lower at 44 MJ/kg, compared to 78-88 MJ/kg for synthetic plastics.
Bioplastic Production
(Reference: revistapesquisa.fapesp.br)
- Bioplastic statistics indicate that European Bioplastics, the industry representative, reports 359 million tons of plastics produced in the world every year.
- Production, however, seems to be increasing every year (see graph).
- Global production capacity increased by 5% between 2018 and 2019, reaching a total of 2.1 million tons.
- Bioplastics production expects this to continue increasing, projecting a capacity of 2.4 million tons in 2024.
Bioplastic Production By Material Type
(Source: docs.european-bioplastics.org)
- Data-involved bioplastic production capacities in the world in 2023, besides the forecast for 2028, all these findings were made according to a material type and subcategorized material.
- Bioplastic statistics show that in 2023, bioplastics were produced by 47.9% from biobased non-biodegradable and 52.1% from biodegradable materials.
- In 2028, the shift is forecasted to occur with 38.0% biobased non-biodegradable and 62.0% biodegradable materials.
- Among them, PLA (polylactic acid) accounted for 43.6% in 2023 and is expected to fall to 31.0% in 2028.
- PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates) included 4.8% in 2023 and then raised to 13.5% in 2028.
- PBAT (polybutylene adipate terephthalate) had 4.6% in 2023, which will drop to 1.3% in 2028, while PBS (polybutylene succinate) embodied 0.9% in 2023 and is assumed to lower until 0.3% in 2028.
- Concerning biobased non-biodegradable materials, PE (polyethylene) was 12.3% in 2023 and is expected to decline to 6.8% in 2028. PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) constituted 2.2%.
- In 2023, PEF (polyethene furoate) barely had its share of less than 0.2% but will rise to about 0.3% in 2028.
- Other materials such as PP (polypropylene), PTT (polytrimethylene terephthalate), and PA (polyamide) observed their share changes.
- PA shared 18.3% in the given year and is expected to grow slightly within touch at 18.9% in 2028, while PTT dropped from about 13.5% to 5.3% in the same tenure.
- Bioplastic statistics reveal that in 2023, the total global production capacity of bioplastics amounted to approximately 2.18 million tonnes, and the amount is projected highly to increase to 7.43 million tonnes at the end of this period in 2028.
- Other minor categories include SCPC (sustainable composite polymer compounds), which are expected to shrink from 6.4% to 1.9%, CR2 from 4.2% to 1.3%, and various other minor categories that contribute less than 1% to the total production.
Bioplastic Usage
(Source: link.springer.com)
- At present, almost 54th of bioplastics, or about 1 million tonnes, are accounted for by the packaging industry, which alone represents 47% of all bioplastics produced.
- Bioplastic statistics indicate that worldwide, out of the total agricultural land of 4.8 billion hectares, only 0.7 million hectares are used, or 0.015% of the global arable land, to grow feedstocks for the production of bioplastics.
- Hence, bioplastics derived from agricultural crop residues will unlikely compete with the land needed for arable farming, pasture, food, or fodder.
- Packaging is notable as the major application area for bioplastics, which has mainly contributed to the total consumption of bioplastics in 2020.
Bioplastic Production By Consumer Goods
(Reference: statista.com)
- Bioplastic statistics show that in the year 2023, there will be about 291.4 thousand metric tons of bioplastics for consumer products at global production capacity.
- Compared to the production capacity of bioplastics in consumer goods in 2014, which was 126,000 metric tons, this corresponds to a very large increase.
Distribution Of Bioplastic Production By Region
(Reference: statista.com)
- Bioplastic statistics indicate that In the year 2023, the global bioplastics production capacity was distributed in the following regions: Asia became the main region with 50.9% of the total capacity.
- Following that was North America, which contributed 20.1%. Europe, on the other hand, represented 16.9%, while South America accounted for 11.7%.
- Australia/Oceania, in turn, had the least share, with only 0.4% of the global production capacity of bioplastics.
Bioplastic Trends
- According to Bioplastic statistics from European Bioplastics and the Nova Institute, the installed production capacity for bioplastics in 2023 was 2.18 million tonnes but is projected to grow to 7.43 million tonnes by 2028.
- The bioplastic industry operates near its full capacity of 82% on average utilization, but this varies across different polymers with ranges of 60 to 100% when comparing production capacities to actual production in 2023.
- Von Pogrell reiterated that even with all these challenges- the climate crisis, rising energy costs, and disrupted value chains- it is still possible for this industry to survive.
- Bioplastics production capacity continues to grow amidst these issues, which further stresses the relevance of this sector.
- Packaging is the largest application of bioplastics in 2023, making up 43% of the market, with expected growth to 48% by 2028. In contrast, the fiber market is expected to decrease from 21% in 2023 to 13% by 2028.
- In 2017, packaging alone made up almost 60% (1.2 million tonnes/1.32 million tons) of the total bioplastics market, which is the largest sector of application for these plastics. The data confirms the fact that bioplastic materials are already being deployed in various applications such as textiles, consumer goods, automotive and transport sectors, agriculture, and horticulture.
- The amount of land for growing the renewable feedstock for bioplastic production is estimated to be around 0.8 million hectares in 2018, which is less than 0.02% of the total global agricultural area of 5 billion hectares.
- Even though market growth for the next five years is anticipated, it is said that about 0.02% will always be the land use share for bioplastics. It shows that the competition for renewable feedstock is for food, feed, and bioplastics production.
Challenges And Issues
- Bioplastic statistics show that Synthetic plastics account for about 4% of global crude oil consumption each year. Factors like the rising crude oil demand and price fluctuation may adversely affect synthetic plastic production.
- Whereas the energy requirement for the production of bioplastics is lower, fossil-fuel-based energy required for their production is only 44 MJ/kg of bio-resin compared to the energy needed by petrochemical plastics, which lies between 78 and 88 MJ/kg.
- Some of the advantages of bioplastics are also accompanied by several limitations, which often manifest in various technical challenges. For instance, some intermediate products that form during bioplastic synthesis would need to be separated properly to avoid contamination of the recycling streams of conventional plastics.
- Bioplastics are, at least for now, primarily made from first-generation feedstocks such as sugarcane, corn, potatoes, wheat, and cassava.
- Criticisms have been leveled towards the use of such feedstocks, especially starch-based ones, to produce biofuels when considering the competition with food, arable land, agricultural energy, and associated cost structures.
- The alternative that is now being explored involves the use of inedible or lignocellulosic feedstocks such as agricultural crop residues, woody biomass, and invasive plants for extracting natural polymers, fibers, and resins.
- However, it is expected that biobased plastics produced at a large scale will help boost the global market and bioeconomy by addressing environmental pollution.
- Apart from that, the bent of advances in biotechnology and bioengineering to develop new bioplastics and engineered biopolymers has opened up room for applications in different industries spanning biomedical, automotive, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and construction.
Conclusion
Bioplastics offer a solution that is sustainable and environmentally friendly to the problem of conventional plastics. The bioplastic statistics market will grow rapidly in 2024 as a result of consumer preferences and regulations as well as new technological innovations in bioplastics. Despite the challenges, there is hope for the future regarding bioplastics and promising prospects in packaging, automotive, and other industries.
With increased accessibility in terms of cost and availability, bioplastics will go a long way in taking the role of transition into a more sustainable, closed-loop economy.
Sources
FAQ.
Continuing the growth that it has had since 2.1 million tons in the year 2019, by 2024, bioplastics generation will reach a worldwide capacity of 2.4 million tons.
In 2023, 47.9% of bioplastic materials used biobased non-biodegradable substrates, whereas 52.1% used completely biodegradable materials. This is projected to change to 38.0% non-biodegradable and 62.0% biodegradable materials by 2028.
Asia is the major region for bioplastics, contributing 50.9% of the total global production capacity in 2023, followed by North America (20.1%) and Europe (16.9%).
Packaging remains the biggest single application for bioplastics, accounting for 43% of the market in 2023. It is expected to grow further to 48% by 2028, while the fibre market is anticipated to decrease from 21% in 2023 to 13% by 2028.
Some of the major challenges are first-generation feedstock use (corn and sugarcane), competition for farmland, and technical difficulties in separating intermediate products to prevent contamination in recycled streams. Other concerns with certain bioplastics relate to deforestation and the leaching of toxic chemicals.
Ketaki Joshi is a professional medical writer with extensive experience in scientific research on illness, health, and healthcare. Her work includes creating feature articles for newsletters and websites, as well as research news stories for doctors and researchers. With a lifelong passion for reading, Ketaki transitioned from a career at a French multinational company to pursue writing professionally. Her dedication to the craft has culminated in the recent release of her first Amazon-published short story, "The Envelope That Changed Our Lives."
