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Bioplastics 2020-2025

A technology and market perspective for biobased polymers


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Despite growing awareness of the environmental problems caused by plastics, global plastics production is still increasing, with the world forecast to produce over 600 million tonnes of plastic by 2030. Bioplastics, a class of polymers manufactured from biomass, could be a solution. Many are biodegradable and, because they are made from renewable resources, they could help ease the world's dependency on fossil-based resources. Despite these advantages, bioplastics have not yet seen widespread application due to barriers such as cost and scale. The fall in oil prices in 2014 exacerbated the situation, with bioplastics companies struggling to compete with extremely cheap petrochemically derived plastics.
 
However, the situation is beginning to change. Thanks in part to innovations in synthetic biology, these polymers are becoming more affordable to manufacture. Increasing customer awareness of the climate impact of petrochemically derived polymers as well as a global shift in demand away from plastics with a lifespan of several hundreds of years has resulted in renewed focus on this previously inaccessible area.
 
 
There is a large number of bioplastics, ranging from direct substitutes for existing plastics to novel polymers made through innovative methods. Note – not all bioplastics are biodegradable. Source: European Bioplastics
 
Technologies, applications and case studies
There are currently many different types of bioplastics. These range from direct substitutes for non-biodegradable fossil-based plastics, such as Coca-Cola's PlantBottle produced from partially biosourced polyethylene terephthalate (PET), to completely biodegradable plastics made through innovative production methods, such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) produced through bacterial fermentation. This report takes an in-depth look at the diverse array of bioplastics and biobased polymers, from established to nascent, providing detailed case studies of companies developing cutting edge technologies for producing bioplastics. An overview of the latest tools utilised in the field of synthetic biology is provided, with focus on CRISPR, protein and organism engineering and commercial scale fermentation. Furthermore, this report cuts through the marketing hype to offer a detailed insight into some of the foremost biobased polymer companies leading global innovation and bringing potentially disruptive products to market.
 
Market outlook
This report provides an overview of the technological advancements in biobased polymers to date, a comprehensive insight into the drivers and restraints affecting synthesis and production at scale for all key application areas discussed and provides case studies and SWOT analyses for the most prolific disrupters developing biobased polymers.
 
Key questions answered in this report
• What are bioplastics and how can they be used?
• Which bioplastics are gaining the most interest throughout the industry?
• Who are the key players developing bioplastics?
• What are the key drivers and restraints of market growth?
• How are traditional plastics being disrupted by bioplastics?
• How will bioplastic production capacity increase from 2020 to 2025?
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Table of Contents
1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1.Global plastics production to pass 600 million tonnes by 2030
1.2.Awareness around single use plastic pollution
1.3.What are bioplastics?
1.4.Navigating biobased polymers from monosaccharides
1.5.Navigating biobased polymers from vegetable oils
1.6.Biobased value add: The Green Premium...
1.7....versus the price of Brent Crude
1.8.The price of oil affects the size of the Green Premium
1.9.The four drivers for substitution
1.10.Drivers and restraints of market growth
1.11.A rapidly growing but uncertain technology
1.12.Global production capacities of bioplastics (2019)
1.13.Global production capacities of bioplastics by market segment (2019)
1.14.Global production capacities of bioplastics by region (2019)
1.15.Bioplastics: forecast production capacity by material
1.16.Switching to biobased plastics: why so slow?
2.INTRODUCTION
2.1.Scope of the report
2.2.List of acronyms
2.3.Key terms and definitions
2.4.What are bioplastics?
2.5.The three main families of bioplastics
2.6.What does "biodegradable" mean?
2.7.Recycling polymers
2.8.The range of available biobased monomers
2.9.Navigating biobased polymers from monosaccharides
2.10.Navigating biobased polymers from vegetable oils
2.11.Social, economic and environmental megatrends
2.12.A rapidly growing but uncertain technology
2.13.Global supply of plastics has grown exponentially
2.14.Polymer types: thermoplastics, thermosets and elastomers
2.15.Global production capacities of bioplastics (2019)
2.16.Environmental costs: the rising tide of plastic pollution
2.17.Biobased value add: The Green Premium...
2.18....versus the price of Brent Crude
2.19.The four drivers for substitution
3.SYNTHETIC BIOBASED POLYMERS
3.1.Polyesters: polylactic acid
3.1.1.What is polylactic acid (PLA)?
3.1.2.Production of polylactic acid
3.1.3.Lactic acid: bacterial fermentation or chemical synthesis?
3.1.4.Optimal lactic acid bacteria strains for fermentation
3.1.5.Engineering yeast strains for lactic acid fermentation
3.1.6.Fermentation, recovery and purification
3.1.7.Polymerisation of lactide and microstructures of PLA
3.1.8.Biodegradation of polylactic acid
3.1.9.Biodegradation: hydrolysis of PLA
3.1.10.Suppliers of lactide and polylactic acid
3.1.11.Current and future applications of polylactic acid
3.1.12.Polylactic acid: a SWOT analysis
3.1.13.Opportunities in the lifecycle of PLA
3.2.Polyesters: other polyesters
3.2.1.Introduction to polyesters from diacids and diols
3.2.2.The range of available biobased polyesters
3.2.3.Biobased polyester suppliers
3.2.4.Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
3.2.5.Biobased MEG and PET: monomer production
3.2.6.Biobased MEG and PET: polymer applications
3.2.7.Biobased PDO and PTT: monomer production
3.2.8.Biobased PDO and PTT: polymer applications
3.2.9.Biobased BDO and PBT: monomer production
3.2.10.Biobased BDO and PBT: polymer applications
3.2.11.Biobased terephthalic acid
3.2.12.Biobased succinic acid and PBS: monomer production
3.2.13.Biobased succinic acid and PBS: polymer applications
3.2.14.Polyethylene furanoate
3.2.15.Biobased furfural compounds: 5-HMF
3.2.16.Biobased FDCA and PEF: monomer production
3.2.17.Biobased FDCA and PEF: polymer applications
3.3.Polyamides
3.3.1.Introduction to biobased polyamides
3.3.2.Range of available biobased monomers and polyamides
3.3.3.Biobased monomer and polyamide suppliers
3.3.4.C6: adipic acid, hexamethylenediamine and caprolactam
3.3.5.C10: sebacic acid and decamethylenediamine
3.3.6.C11: 11-aminoundecanoic acid
3.3.7.C12: Dodecanedioic acid
3.3.8.Polyamide properties, applications and opportunities
3.4.Other polymers
3.4.1.Other biobased polymers
3.4.2.Polyester polyols, polyurethanes and polyisocyanates
3.4.3.Cargill: vegetable oil derived polyols
3.4.4.Covestro and Reverdia: Impranil eco Succinic acid based polyester polyols
3.4.5.BASF: Sovermol 830 Castor oil derived polyether-ester polyol
3.4.6.Covestro: PDI and Desmodur eco N 7300 polyisocyanurate
3.4.7.Biobased polyolefins
3.4.8.Biobased polyolefins: challenging but in demand
3.4.9.Braskem: I'm green Polyethylene
3.4.10.Biobased isosorbide as a comonomer
3.4.11.Roquette: POLYSORB isosorbide
3.4.12.Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation: Durabio
4.NATURALLY OCCURRING BIOPLASTICS AND BIOBASED POLYMERS
4.1.Polyesters: poly(hydroxyalkanoates)
4.1.1.Introduction to poly(hydroxyalkanoates)
4.1.2.Suppliers of PHAs
4.1.3.PHAs: microstructures and properties
4.1.4.Properties of common PHAs
4.1.5.Biosynthetic pathways to PHAs
4.1.6.Fermentation, recovery and purification
4.1.7.PHAs: a SWOT analysis
4.1.8.Applications of PHAs
4.1.9.Opportunities in PHAs
4.1.10.Applications of PHAs: present and future
4.1.11.Risks in PHAs
4.1.12.PHAs are only made in small quantities
4.1.13.PHA production facilities
4.1.14.Newlight Technologies
4.1.15.Danimer Scientific
4.2.Polysaccharides
4.2.1.Cellulose
4.2.2.Nanocellulose
4.2.3.Forms of nanocellulose
4.2.4.Nanocellulose up close
4.2.5.Applications of nanocellulose
4.2.6.CelluForce
4.2.7.The Exilva project
4.2.8.Manufacturing thermoplastic starch
4.2.9.Plantic
4.2.10.Seaweed extracts as a packaging material
4.2.11.Loliware
4.2.12.Ooho! by Notpla
4.2.13.Evoware
4.3.Proteins: synthetic spider silk
4.3.1.Spider Silk Without Spiders
4.3.2.Manufacturing synthetic spider silk
4.3.3.Applications for Spider Silk
4.3.4.Bolt Threads
4.3.5.Spiber
4.3.6.Kraig Biocraft Laboratories
5.DESIGNING AND ENGINEERING BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
5.1.Designing and engineering biological systems
5.2.Manipulating the central dogma
5.3.The vast scope of synthetic biology
5.4.Cell factories for biomanufacturing: a range of organisms
5.5.The techniques and tools of synthetic biology
5.6.DNA synthesis
5.7.Gene editing
5.8.What is CRISPR?
5.9.Strain Construction and optimisation
5.10.Framework for developing industrial microbial strains
5.11.The Problem with Scale
6.MARKET TRENDS AND ANALYSIS
6.1.Global plastics production to pass 600 million tonnes by 2030
6.2.Awareness around single use plastic pollution
6.3.Are biodegradable plastics the solution?
6.4.Reduced carbon dioxide emissions directives
6.5.Feedstock competition: food or fuel (or plastics)?
6.6.The price of oil affects the size of the Green Premium
6.7.Will consumers pay more for green products?
6.8.Global production capacities of bioplastics (2019)
6.9.Global production capacities of bioplastics by market segment (2019)
6.10.Global production capacities of bioplastics by region (2019)
6.11.Bioplastics and automotive applications
6.12.Bioplastics: processability
6.13.Bioplastics: application in packaging
6.14.Bioplastics: applicability for flexible packaging
6.15.Bioplastics: applicability for rigid packaging
6.16.Bioplastics: forecast production capacity by material
6.17.Bioplastics: forecast production by polymer type
6.18.Bioplastics: forecast by region
6.19.Drivers and restraints of market growth
6.20.Switching to biobased plastics: why so slow?
 

Report Statistics

Slides 168
Forecasts to 2025
 
 
 
 

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