The Synthetic Biodegradable Polymers Market

The main types of synthetic biodegradable polymer in commercial use are as follows. 

Aliphatic polyesters like polycaprolactone (PCL) or polybutylene adipate (PBA) are readily biodegradable, but because of their melting points of 60 °C are unsuitable for many applications. On the other hand, aromatic polyesters like polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) have high melting points above 200 °C and very good material properties, but are not biodegradable. 

The solution is a combination of aliphatic polyesters and aromatic polyesters. This involves modifying the crystalline structure of PBT by incorporating aliphatic monomer (adipic acid) in the polymer chain in such a way that the material properties of the polymer would remain acceptable (e.g., melting point of the crystalline range still around 100 °C), but the polymer would also be readily compostable/biodegradable. In this way it was possible to combine the degradability of aliphatic polyesters with the outstanding properties of aromatic polyesters. 

Synthetic biodegradable polyesters fall into two broad categories. One is highly amorphous, imparting flexibility and clarity comparable to a conventional LDPE copolymer. A second group of semicrystalline polyesters is more rigid, with properties similar to PET, PP, or PS. 

The three most prominent global suppliers of synthetic biodegradable polymers are BASF, Novamont, which acquired Eastman Chemicals Eastar Bio product portfolio in 2005, and DuPont. 

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