Government Regs and Consumer Awareness Drive Bioplastic Packaging Market

Government regulations and rising awareness of sustainable packaging solutions among both consumers and manufacturers will drive significant growth of the bioplastic packaging market, according to a new report. The global bioplastic packaging market is expected to grow at a pace of 18.1% between 2017 and 2025, the report from The Insight Partners. Bioplastics are plastics made from plants rather than fossil fuels.

Food and beverage is the leading segment, owing to early adoption of bioplastic packaging solutions by some major companies. In 2013, for example, companies such as Coca-Cola, Heinz, P&G, and Unilever joined the World Wildlife Fund to introduce the Bioplastic Feedstock Alliance. In 2017, PepsiCo partnered with Danimer Scientific to develop biodegradable film resins for its food and beverage business. Nestle, too, is making use of bioplastic such as bio-PE, bio-PET and PLA for food packaging. And UK-based supermarket chain Iceland Foods plans to eliminate plastic packaging by 2023, which is likely to impact food and beverage suppliers and push them toward more bioplastic options.

Coca-Cola has sold more than 50 billion of its bioplastic-based PlantBottles. But the food and beverage industry can’t drive the market alone, the company says: retailers need to increase demand for bioplastics to really make the market thrive. “It won’t ever work if there’s just one big consumer company like a Coca-Cola trying to drive suppliers,” said Ben Jordan, head of environmental policy at Coca-Cola. “You need more demand out there in industry.”

Several manufacturers dominate the market, with more competitors expected to join the fray. The majority of companies in the bioplastic packaging market are located in the Asia-Pacific region as well as in Europe, the report states.

Stringent regulations in terms of reuse and recycling of plastics waste is one of the top drivers of the market in both developing  and developed regions, according to the report. While bioplastics currently make up just 1% of the plastics market, chemical companies like BASF have jumped into the growing bioplastics market to meet the demand from companies like Coca-Cola and Lego A/S.