Production capacity

The global production capacity for bioplastics amounted to over 700,000 tonnes in 2010. Following the technical trial facilities at the beginning of the 1990s and the subsequent upscaling phase, industrial-scale capacity has now been achieved. As more facilities go on-stream, production of bioplastics is projected to increase to more than 1.7 million tonnes by the year 2015.

The dynamic development of the bioplastics industry has a huge impact on other sectors. The field of biochemicals is growing by a tenfold compared to the conventional chemical market. To put this into relative comparison: while the chemicals market is expected to grow by 60 percent between 2007 and 2017, the biobased chemicals market is projected to grow by more than 600 percent!

Progress in the field of biochemicals again spurs the development of new or improved types of bioplastic.*

Globla production capacity for bioplastics © European Bioplastics