NaturalPlastics1

GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global report on Lactic Acid markets. The global market for Lactic Acid is forecast to reach 328.9 thousand metric tons by the year 2015. Key factors driving market growth include rise in demand from existing end-use markets and emergence of new product applications

Global bioplastic packaging demand is forecast to reach 884,000 tonnes by 2020. A 24.9% CAGR is expected from 2010-15 slowing to 18.3% in the five years to 2020. According to a major new study by Pira International, a new breed of bioplastics will be major drivers as packaging market demand gradually shifts from biodegradable and compostable polymers towards biopackaging based on renewable and sustainable materials.

Based on primary research and expert analysis, The Future of Bioplastics for Packaging to 2020: Global Market Forecasts analyses the key opportunities and future trends shaping the industry, providing raw material suppliers, processors and equipment suppliers with ten year forecasts. The report identifies about 50 suppliers of biopolymers for packaging, and presents technology and market forecasts to 2020 for bioplastic packaging by product type, end-use sector, pack type and geographic region.

Bioplastic materials are defined in the report as materials that are either biodegradable and compostable and derived from both renewable and non-renewable sources, or materials that are non-biodegradable and derived from renewable resources.

From 2010 bioplastic technology is expected to change with the commercialisation of bioplastics produced directly by natural/genetically modified (GM) organisms and the introduction of non-biodegradable, bio-derived polyethylene (PE). Pira expects these materials will account for a quarter of total bioplastic packaging market demand by 2020. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are forecast to achieve a CAGR of 41% and bio-derived PE a staggering 83% over the period.

Traditional bioplastic packaging technologies based on starch, cellulose and polyester are each forecast to show a decline in market share to 2020.

Bioplastic packaging is a highly concentrated market with the top five suppliers currently accounting for over 50% of bioplastic packaging market demand. Pira predicts major changes among the leading ranks of bioplastic packaging suppliers over the next five to ten years. Large petrochemical companies including Braskem, Dow Chemicals and Solvay are scheduled to commence bio-derived PE production by 2012 at industrial-scale facilities in Brazil. These companies are expected to be propelled into the top rank of bioplastic producers over the next five years. Telles, the joint venture PHA producer, is also expected to become a major world player. Several Chinese companies are known to be investing in significant capacity expansion programmes that should propel them into leading market positions.

According to the study, major new technologies will emerge over the next ten years. US bioplastics producer Cereplast, for example, is planning to launch a range of all-natural algae-based resins by the end of 2010. Also, several companies are exploring the development of bioplastics using carbon dioxide as a raw material. The potential for a process that converts waste carbon dioxide into a useful product is huge, but whether the material produced using this technique will prove commercially viable will ultimately depend on whether these new polymers are cost effective to produce. A new sugar-based bioplastic that can be sourced from non-food crops and produced via a low energy process is also tipped to reach the market within the next five years.

Rigid packaging has a projected share of 52.0% of the bioplastic packaging market in 2010 according to Pira, with flexible packaging accounting for the remaining 48.0%. Retail and foodservice trays and containers are the largest single pack type for bioplastic packaging, followed by flexible film. Pira expects flexible packaging to take a growing share of the bioplastic packaging market over the next five to ten years. Adam Page, Head of Information at Pira, explains: "Demand will be driven by the commercialisation of bio-derived PE and PHA, and the wider availability and improved properties for biaxially oriented PLA (BOPLA) film."

Europe is the largest regional market for bioplastic packaging with over half of world tonnage in 2010. It benefits from favourable consumer and retail attitudes to sustainable packaging, supportive government policies towards packaging waste recycling and a well-developed composting infrastructure. Whilst North America currently trails Europe in terms of bioplastic packaging consumption, government and consumer attitudes are changing. Pira expects North America and Asia to show higher growth rates than Europe for bioplastic packaging over the forecast period. Japan accounts for the lion's share of Asian bioplastic packaging, mostly as a result of favourable government initiatives supporting bioplastic market development.

The Future of Bioplastics for Packaging to 2020: Global Market Forecasts is available now. For more information, please contact Stephen Hill at +44 (0) 1372 802025, or via e-mail Stephen

Press contact: For editorial queries, details of the study or an expanded article please contact: Rebecca Leigh +44(0)1372 802207

Pira International
Pira International - the worldwide authority on packaging, paper and print industry supply chains

Established in 1930, Pira provides strategic and technical consulting, testing, intelligence and events to help clients gain market insights, identify opportunities, evaluate product performance and manage compliance.

Source: www.pira-international.com

The manufacture of NatureWorks’ Ingeo™ plastic, made from plants not oil, emits fewer greenhouse gasses (GHGs) than the comparable manufacture of every other common petrochemical-based plastic, according to a peer-reviewed article published in the August 2010 edition of Industrial Biotechnology.

The article, "The eco-profile for current Ingeo polylactide production," was peer reviewed and approved for publication in Industrial Biotechnology by an independent panel of experts. The article documents the energy and GHG inputs and outputs of Ingeo production, including planting, harvesting, fermenting plant sugars, and resin production.

Plants absorb CO2 as they grow and that offsets and lowers the overall GHG emissions from Ingeo production by 61 percent. The yellow bar in the “Gross GHG Emissions” chart shows the amount of CO2 absorbed by plants. The blue bars indicate the total CO2 emitted during various stages of plant growth through polymer production. The yellow bar represents the 61 percent overall offset.

The CO2 absorbed by the growing plant not only reduces GHG emissions, but also directly replaces the fossil resources that are required as the building block for today’s petro-based polymers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Biopreferred Program and the European Union’s Lead Market Initiative are both designed to promote biobased products. The data on lowering carbon footprint presented in the article shows why these programs are important in terms of stimulating the use of biobased material over non-renewable material.

"Using renewable performance materials in lowering carbon footprints is why brand owners and retailers are becoming increasingly interested in using materials such as Ingeo biopolymer," said Marc Verbruggen, president and chief executive officer, NatureWorks. "It is one of the principal reasons Ingeo sales are climbing at a double-digit rate, and why NatureWorks is planning on building a second production facility to meet the growing demand for Ingeo."

Ingeo is the NatureWorks brand name for its portfolio of polylactide biopolymers and the study notes:

"The data provided in this report is only valid for Ingeo (polylactides produced by NatureWorks in Blair, Nebraska, USA) and not for polylactide production in general. The life cycle inventory data for polylactides that might be produced elsewhere will be different due to different raw materials (sugar or starch source) and raw material production practices, different technologies for processing these raw materials, different fermentation and polymerization technology, and different background data for electricity/fuel mixes used."

Since the NatureWorks Ingeo facility in Nebraska began production in 2002, technology improvements there have further lowered energy consumption and GHG emissions. The following charts compare the energy consumption and the GHG emissions of Ingeo and common petrochemical plastics on an equal-weight basis in the cradle-to-factory stage of their life cycle.

To view examples of how companies around the world have incorporated the Ingeo eco profile into their products, visit NatureWorks’ most recent "LookBook."  Visit the NatureWorks website www.natureworksllc.com for news and product information and sign up to receive the Ingeo News newsletter.

About NatureWorks LLC
NatureWorks LLC is a company dedicated to meeting the world’s needs today without compromising the earth’s ability to meet the needs of tomorrow. NatureWorks LLC is the first company to offer a family of commercially available, low-carbon footprint Ingeo biopolymers derived from 100 percent annually renewable resources with performance and economics that compete with oil-based plastics and fibers. For more information, visit www.natureworksllc.com.

Source: www.natureworksllc.com