BIOPLASTICS MARKET DEVELOPMENT UPDATE 2023

Growth resumption: global production capacities of bioplastics 2023-2028

After a period of stagnation over the past few years, the overall global plastic production is picking up again in 2023. This development is driven by rising demand combined with the emergence of more sophisticated applications and products. Global bioplastics production capacity is set to increase significantly from around 2.18 million tonnes in 2023 to approximately 7.43 million tonnes in 2028.

Material development and diversification

Bioplastic alternatives exist for almost every conventional plastic material and corresponding application. Due to a strong development of polymers, such as polylactic acid (PLA), PHA (Polyhydroxyalkanoates), PAs (polyamides) as well as a steady growth of Polypropylene (PP), the production capacities will continue to increase significantly within the next 5 years.

Applications and market segments

Bioplastics are used for an increasing variety of applications, ranging from packaging and consumer products to electronics, automotive, and textiles. Packaging remains the largest market segment for bioplastics with 43 percent (934 000 tonnes) of the total bioplastics market in 2023

Bioplastics producers working at nearly full capacity in 2023

With actual production data available for the first time, the comparison between the production capacities and actual production in 2023 shows that the bioplastics industry is producing at nearly full capacity. Although varying in some parts quite significantly from one polymer to another, ranging from 60% to 100%, the average utilization rate in 2023 is 82% (1.79mt production vs. 2.18mt production capacities).