2.1 Global Market Forecasts

The market for biodegradable polymers has shown strong growth during the last five years, albeit from a very small base. However, there are still only a handful of producers operating truly commercial scale production plants. The situation is slowly changing with a number of major plant expansions planned over the next few years.

The major classes of biopolymer, starch and starch blends, polylactic acid (PLA) and aliphatic-aromatic co-polyesters, are now being used in a wide variety of niche applications, particularly for manufacture of rigid and flexible packaging, bags and sacks and foodservice products. However, market volumes for biopolymers remain extremely low compared with standard petrochemical-based plastics. For example, in 2005, biopolymer consumption accounted for just 0.14% of total thermoplastics consumption in Western Europe.

In 2005, the global biodegradable plastics market tonnage is estimated at 94,800 tonnes (including loose-fill packaging) compared with 28,000 tonnes in 2000. In 2010, market tonnage is forecast to reach 214,400 tonnes, which represents a compound annual growth rate of 17.7% during the period 2005-2010. Excluding loose-fill packaging, which is a relatively more mature sector for biodegradable polymers, global market tonnage in 2005 is 71,700 tonnes and the compound annual growth rate for the period 2005-2010 is 20.3%.

Table 2.1 shows global consumption of biodegradable polymers by polymer type for the years 2000, 2005 and forecast for 2010.