Bio-based plastics: statu's, challenges and trends

The increasing concern about diminishing fossil resources and the impacts of the global warming is driving the growth of the new bioeconomy. Bioplastics, thermoplastic biopolymers that are either biodegradable or at least partly bio-based, are one of the fastest growing markets. The average growth rates over the past years have constantly been double-digit. Though the production capacities are small, currently approximately 0.5% of the global plastics productions, recent market forecasts expect a sharp rise in the upcoming three years. Due to identical property profiles and established recycling processes, the largest growth is expected for partly bio-based conventional plastics, especially for bio-PET. This development was made possible by numerous innovations in the fields of chemical catalysis, biotechnology, and plastics engineering. It reflects an ongoing change in the bio-plastic industry, which increasingly focuses on the production of durable, bio-based plastics, after years of concentration on biodegradable plastics used for niche applications. But also the markets for bio-based and biodegradable plastics are expected to continue their rapid growth. This article reviews advances in production processes and material properties of selected bio-based plastics. It focuses on the most important bio-based plastics with established production and commercial applications. It furthermore provides an overview of new applications, and trends, as well as of major producers.