Dynamic growth: global bioplastics production capacity 2019-2024
Bioplastics represent around 1 percent of the more than 359 million tons of plastics produced annually. But with increasing demand and the emergence of sophisticated products and uses, the bioplastics market is growing and diversifying. Global bioplastics production capacity will increase from approximately 2.11 million tons in 2019 to 2.43 million tons in 2024.
Material development and diversification
Alternatives for bioplastics exist for almost any traditional plastic material and its applications. As bioplastics become more readily available for commercial use, their production capacity will further diversify over the next 5 years.
Usage and market segmentation
Bioplastics have a wide range of applications, from packaging to consumer products such as electronics, automotive parts and textiles. Packaging materials account for the largest portion of bioplastic consumption with over 53% (1.14 million tons) of the total in 2019.
The share of land use for bioplastics is estimated at 0.2 percent
The land used to grow renewable raw materials for bioplastic production remains approximately 0.79 million hectares in 2019. It thus represents only 0.016 percent of the total global agricultural area of 4.8 billion hectares. Given the steady market growth, this share will increase slightly to 0.024 percent by 2024. This again shows that there is no competition between renewable materials used for food and feed stocks and bioplastic production.
An update on these figures
The 2019 market data update was compiled in collaboration with experts from the Nova-Institute (Hürth, Germany). The market data charts are available for download at: http://www.european-bioplastics.org/news/publications/.
