Global biodegradable plastics market

In 2006, there are around 30 major companies worldwide that are actively involved in developing biodegradable plastic materials. The synthetic biopolymers market is dominated by large, global and vertically integrated chemical companies such as BASF, DuPont, and Mitsubishi Gas Chemicals. The starch and PLA sectors contain mainly specialist biopolymer companies such as Novamont, NatureWorks, Rodenburg Biopolymers and Biotec, which were specifically established purely to develop biodegradable polymers. 

Thermoplastic starch (TPS) is an attractive source for the development of biodegradable plastics. It is one of the lowest cost biodegradable materials currently available in the global market (Mathew and Dufresne 2002 Shen et al. 2009). It can be found in the form of discrete semicrystalline particles, whose size, shape, morphology, and composition depend on the botanical origin (com, potato, maize. 

Today, starch is inexpensive and is available annually from com and other crops, and is produced in excess of current market needs in the United States and Europe (1). Starch is totally biodegradable in a wide variety of environments and could permit the development of totally degradable products for specific market demands. Degradation or incineration of starch products would recycle atmospheric CO2 trapped by starch-producing plants and would not increase potential global warming (2) (see also Environmentally Degradable Plastics). 

The production of biodegradable polymers has increased tremendously over the past few decades. In an overview of the products and market of bio-based plastics by Shen et al. (2009) known as PRO-BIP 2009, the global output of bio-based plastics was 360,000 MT in 2007. This represents only 0.3% of the total amount of plastic produced worldwide. However, the production of bio-based plastics has grown rapidly, at a rate of 38% annually between 2003 and 2007 (Shen et al, 2009). Shen et al. (2009) have predicted that bio-based plastic production will increase to 3.45 million MT in 2020, and will be primarily made up of starch plastics (1.3 mUlion MT), PL A (800,000 MT), bio-based... 

---