Biodegradable Plastics Market Anticipated to Generate a Revenue of $8,940.5 Million, Growing at a CAGR of 9.5% from 2021 to 2028

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According to the global biodegradable plastics market forecast, the market is anticipated to cross $8,940.5 million by 2028, increasing from $4,276.9 million in 2020 at a healthy CAGR of 9.5%.

COVID-19 Impact on Biodegradable Plastics Market

The global biodegradable plastics industry witnessed a slightly negative impact owing to the novel coronavirus lockdown globally. During the lockdown, leading manufacturers have experienced limited production activities because of government lockdown guidelines. Also, the number of medical items like face masks, sanitizer bottles, and gloves increased, which created huge plastic waste. This aspect has created huge opportunity for the biodegradable plastics to be used to produce personal protective equipment and sanitizer bottles. Major industry leaders are adopting different growth strategies like geographical expansion to increase their capacity and productivity. For example, in September 2020, Total Corbion PLA, a joint venture between Total and Carbion for PLA production, announced the first world scale PLA plant with a capacity of up to 100,000 tons per year. Through this strategy, the company aimed to launch commercial scale for the production of lactic acid to develop bioplastics and biodegradable products. Due to this factor, the biodegradable plastics market trends are expected to witness positive growth after coronavirus pandemic.

Global Biodegradable Plastics Market Analysis

Increasing consumer preference of eco-friendly products like biodegradable materials is a significant driver for the industry growth in the forecast time. Moreover, increasing awareness among people about pollution caused by plastic materials is expected to have huge impact on the biodegradable plastics’ utilization. These aspects are estimated to propel the market growth in the review time. Furthermore, some of the government bodies are taking various initiatives to reduce plastic consumption by promoting biodegradable materials, which is estimated to raise the market size in the analysis time. For example, in 2020, China implemented strict regulation and ban on non-degradable bags in major towns and cities by the end of 2022. According to University of Oxford publication, China is the world’s largest user of plastic and major producer of plastic waste and in 2020, China generated about 60 million tonnes of plastic waste. Also, Chinese government supporting the bioplastic and biodegradable materials manufactures to reduce plastic waste is an aspect predicted to enhance the market growth in the review time. Moreover, novel product invention may also create significant impact on the this subsegment, in the coming years. For example, EnviGreen, an Indian innovative startup company, produces edible as well as 100% biodegradable plastic bags. This ‘EnviGreen bags’ have ability to break-down completely in the 15 seconds if placed in the boiling water. Such innovations are also expected to accelerate the market growth, in the forecast time.

Huge investments for the production of biodegradable plastic due to the utilization of expensive equipment for processing is expected to be the key restraint for the biodegradable plastics market growth, during the review time.

Application of biodegradable materials in the medical industry is expected to generate huge growth opportunities for the market in the upcoming time. Biodegradable polymers have found great opportunities in the drug delivery systems (DDS) due to physico-chemical features of the biodegradable polymer such as colloidal stability, surface charge and minimization of nanoparticle aggregation. Also, biodegradable polymers are being used in DDS to enhance the encapsulation efficacy of the target drugs through increasing the residence time in the target organ.

Global Biodegradable Plastics Market, Segmentation

The global biodegradable plastics market is segmented based on material type, application, and region.

Material Type:

The material type segment is further categorized into PBS, starch blends, PBAT, PLA and others. Among all these sub-segments, the PLA biodegradable plastics market is estimated to reach $2,122.0 million by 2028 and is expected to have profitable growth in the forecast timeframe.

There is increasing usage of PLA materials for the manufacturing of biodegradable plastics due to PLA being inexpensive compared with other bio-based products. Also, limiting dependency on petrochemical raw materials for the production of packaging materials is estimated to enhance the sub-segment market growth in the forecast period.

Application:

The application segment is further categorized into consumer durables, textiles, agriculture & horticulture, packaging & bags, and others. Among these sub-segments, agriculture & horticulture is estimated to rise at a notable rate of 9.7% CAGR during the analysis time.

Biodegradable or compostable plastic have confirmed strong potential as sustainable and high-performing alternatives in agriculture & horticulture applications and their characteristics like biodegradability and being eco-friendly make them specially promising for use in horticulture.

Region:

The Europe biodegradable plastics market size was over $1,114.1 million in 2020 and is further anticipated to reach $2,563.2 million by 2028. Increasing demand for biodegradable plastics across European countries, especially UK and Germany, due to rising demand for bio-based products and growing consumer preference is estimated to enhance the growth of the industry in the review time. European Union is taking initiatives to support sustainable eco-friendly technologies for several applications like packaging, bags manufacturing, and consumer durables production to reduce environmental pollution caused by plastics made of fossil fuels. Such factors are estimated to boost the Europe biodegradable plastics market growth, in the review time.

Key Players in the Global Biodegradable Plastics Market

• NatureWorks LLC
• BASF SE
• Total Corbion
• Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation
• Danimer Scientific
• Novamont SpA
• Biome Technologies plc
• Dow
• TORAY INDUSTRIES, INC.
• Eastman Chemical Company

Coupled with the company profiles of the major players in the global market, the report also includes the Porter’s five forces model that provides deep information into the competitive environment of the market.

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis for the Global Biodegradable Plastics Market

• Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The major companies in biodegradable plastics business are huge in number. However, emergence of innovative alternatives like solar powdered heating systems used in the manufacturing of biodegradable plastics are resulting in moderate bargaining power of suppliers.
• Bargaining Power of Buyers: Increasing consumer demand for eco friendly plastic bags due to rising consciousness on environmental pollution but, accessibility of alternatives due to high cost of the biodegradable plastics are impacting the market growth is resulting in moderate bargaining power of buyers.
• Threat of New Entrants: High initial investment is required for the new participants into the biodegradable polyesters industry and huge demand for bio-based products as well as government favorable factors. But, high brand loyalty among the consumers is a major challenge for new players.
  As a result, the threat of the new entrants is moderate.
• Threat of Substitutes: Presence of high number of substitutes for biodegradable plastics like traditional plastic items,
  are resulting high threat of substitutes.
• Competitive Rivalry in the Market: The companies operating in the global biodegradable plastics are opting for various growth strategies to rise their position in the industry. Various companies are launching several energy effective products in the market to reinforce their services demand. 
  Therefore, competitive rivalry in the market is high.