Latest news with #bioplastics
Associated Press
23-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Bioplastics Industry Report 2025: Sales Data for 2023, Estimates for 2024, Forecasts for 2028, CAGR Projections through 2029, Profiles of BASF, Arkema, LG Chem., Mitsubishi, and LyondellBasell
DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2025-- The 'Bioplastics Market' report has been added to offering. The Bioplastics Market was valued at USD 2.06 trillion in 2024, and is projected to reach USD 5.63 trillion by 2029, rising at a CAGR of 18.3%. Global market volume is estimated to increase from 2,431.9 kilotons in 2024 to reach 5,634.6 kilotons by 2029, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.3% from 2024 through 2029. This report will include details regarding various raw material types, applications and end-use industries for bioplastics. Estimated volumes, measured in kilotons, are based on manufacturers' total production. The report includes comprehensive information regarding the bioplastics industry and its end users. The growing packaging, automotive, textile and agriculture industries have established novel prospects for the bioplastics manufacturing industries. Technological advances in engineering plastics, agricultural mulching, electronics casings and manufacturing techniques create new doors for the bioplastics industry. The availability of raw materials and modest production procedures are prompting small and medium polymer producers to enter the market. Corporate sustainability initiatives further prompt global traditional plastics manufacturers to enter the bioplastics market. Global players in the market are reducing their dependency on fossil fuels and focusing on renewable raw materials for bioplastic production. These drivers provide an ideal environment for the market expansion of bioplastics. Report Scope Company Profiles Key Attributes: Key Topics Covered: Chapter 1 Executive Summary Chapter 2 Market Overview Chapter 3 Market Dynamics Chapter 4 Regulatory Landscape Chapter 5 Emerging Technologies and Developments Chapter 6 Supply Chain Analysis of the Global Bioplastics Markets Chapter 7 Market Segmentation Analysis Chapter 8 Competitive Intelligence Chapter 9 Sustainability in Bioplastics: Environmental, Social and Governance Perspective Chapter 10 Appendix For more information about this report visit About is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. View source version on CONTACT: Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 KEYWORD: INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BIOTECHNOLOGY CHEMICALS/PLASTICS HEALTH MANUFACTURING SOURCE: Research and Markets Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 05/23/2025 12:03 PM/DISC: 05/23/2025 12:02 PM
The Guardian
13-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Starch-based bioplastic may be as toxic as petroleum-based plastic, study finds
Starch-based bioplastic that is said to be biodegradable and sustainable is potentially as toxic as petroleum-based plastic, and can cause similar health problems, new peer-reviewed research finds. Bioplastics have been heralded as the future of plastic because it breaks down quicker than petroleum-based plastic, and is often made from plant-based material such as corn starch, rice starch or sugar. The material is often used in fast fashion clothing, wet wipes, straws, cutlery and a range of other products. The new research found damage to organs, changes to the metabolism, gut microbe imbalances that can lead to cardiovascular disease, and changes to glucose levels, among other health issues. The authors say their study is the first to confirm 'adverse effects of long-term exposure' in mice. 'Biodegradable starch-based plastics may not be as safe and health-promoting as originally assumed,' Yongfeng Deng, a study co-author with something, said in a media statement. 'This is particularly concerning given their potential for accidental ingestion.' Plastic is a notoriously toxic material that can contain any of more than 16,000 chemicals, many of which are known to be hazardous to human health or the environment, or have no public toxicological profile. Common plasticizers, such as phthalates and bisphenol, are among the most toxic human-made substances, and linked to health issues from cancer to hormone disruption. While bioplastics have been pushed as a safer alternative, previous research has found they don't break down as fast as the industry has claimed. Meanwhile, there is a dearth of research on the material's toxicity. Still, its production has proliferated in recent years – nearly 2.5 metric tonnes were used last year, and that figure will more than double over the next five years, according to an industry trade group estimate. Like petroleum-based plastics, bioplastics shed and turn into micro-bioplastics – clothing, for example, can shed at high levels when washed, and that can end up in food and water. In the new study, researchers for three months fed several groups of mice food and water contaminated with 'environmentally relevant' levels of bioplastics, and a third with no bioplastics. They found many of the same health problems from exposure to the plant-based plastic as petroleum-based – the chemicals were found in the mice's tissue in their livers, ovaries and intestines, where they caused microlesions. Researchers also found abnormalities in the livers and ovaries, and at higher levels in the group fed more bioplastic. The material also affected genetic pathways and specific gut microbiota imbalances, which the researchers suggest could alter circadian rhythms. The authors note more research is needed, but the findings raise questions about the safety of bioplastics that are a part of everyday life. Some activists and researchers suggest taking steps to reduce exposure to plastic – in everyday things such as kitchenware or clothing – despite it being difficult to avoid in daily life.
Fast Company
12-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
Inside the Amazon lab that could change the way we recycle plastic
There's no question that Amazon is known for its packaging. Boxes and mailers with the ubiquitous smile logo now dot the porches of every neighborhood in the country. And with the company's 2017 purchase of Whole Foods, it became a major player in food packaging as well, wrapping everything from produce to potato chips. Since then, the chain has expanded to 535 locations and increased its sales 40%. That means that every day, millions of people take home some food wrapped in plastic from Whole Foods—but probably rarely think about the packaging. But in a nondescript warehouse in a still-industrial part of Seattle, five scientists at Amazon's Sustainable Materials Innovation Lab are trying to design a better package. This work is twofold. First, researchers are putting dozens of bio-based plastics through a gauntlet of tests on things like tensile strength, tear strength, and seal strength to see how they compare to their fossil-fuel-based counterparts. Second, they're working with a handful of partners to make sure that when this packaging hits the market, there's a recycling infrastructure already in place that can support it. 'Our long-term objective is to enable simplicity and recycling of plastics in the same way that you have paper today,' says Alan Jacobsen, the director of Materials and Energy Sciences at the lab. 'You don't need to know, is it a 1, 2, 3, 4. You just throw it.' The intense focus on circularity sands in stark contrast to the overconsumption that Amazon's business model entails—and the vast amounts of junk it distributes, particularly with the recent launch of Haul, where every item is under $20. Jacobsen, for his part, says that he knows people are going to buy products at 'a range of price points. . . . We try to figure out how to enable that in the most sustainable way.' And the company says it intends to make the research and technology available beyond Amazon, which means that if it's successful, it could lead to a fundamental change in packaging—and recycling—throughout the economy. The challenges of designing food packaging Last October, Amazon announced that it had swapped out all of its plastic fillers with paper, part of its overall commitment to reducing plastic use. Paper isn't just more environmentally friendly than plastic, it also has much higher rates of recycling (68% compared to 6%). 'When you're at home recycling paper, you just throw it in the bin and you know it's going to get recycled,' Jacobsen says. 'Because it's easier to recycle, it's recycled more.' But for some applications, paper just isn't a viable solution. That's especially true for food packaging 'because of the physical properties of the material,' says Jacobsen. 'Sometimes this has to do with the tear strength or puncture strength; sometimes it has to do with the moisture barrier properties or oxygen barrier properties—just properties that it is not possible for paper to meet.' Food packaging has to keep potato chips crispy and pretzels salty and baby carrots wet; it has to be tough enough that a pile of apples don't tear open the bag, with a seal strong enough that frozen peas don't spill all over the floor (while still being easy to open). Food has way more demands of its packaging than something like a book, a tube of lipstick, or even a set of dishes. The default solution to this has always been plastic. But Jacobsen and his team are working on a replacement: biopolyesters. That means the plastic is biodegradable and uses biological materials, waste, or recycled content as the feedstock (or raw material used to make the plastic). But this packaging doesn't just have to be developed, tested, and produced—Amazon also wants it to be easily recyclable, which is where things get even more complicated. Our current recycling infrastructure is finicky: It's not good at differentiating between different types of plastic, and if it gets confused, it errs on the side of landfill. (Because if the different types of plastic get bundled together, it downgrades the entire bale, which means less money for the recycling facility.) Jacobsen and his team want to eliminate this problem entirely. They want to make biopolyesters that are a blend of feedstocks (including different types of recycled plastic) and then have recycling plants (called 'materials recovery facilities,' or MRFs) be able to take it all in, easily separate it, and find a home for these streams. 'But one new type of material is not going to work,' says Jacobsen. 'You're going to need a range of different materials. You often have to blend these materials together. You have to put them in different layers to meet the requirements for a particular application.' But most recycling facilities aren't set up to deal with these kinds of mixed waste streams in a single piece of packaging. So Amazon is working with a network of other companies to help redesign the plastic recycling infrastructure to make it simple for their designs to always be made into something new. Glacier—designing robots to go through the trash Much of the recycling infrastructure in the United States is built on MRFs. These massive warehouses take in gobs of recycling—cardboard boxes and wine bottles and take-out containers and everything in between—and sort hundreds of tons of waste each day. But in the course of that sorting, a lot of otherwise recyclable stuff can get missed or thrown out, maybe because the machines can't tell what it is, maybe because it gets mixed in with other items. That means a lot of theoretically recyclable materials get sent to the landfill, and also that a lot of bundles of recycled plastic are too degraded with other materials to be properly reused. Glacier, a San Francisco-based company that Amazon invested in last fall, designed a robot to eliminate these pain points. It can sort through more than 30 different types of material, meaning the end bales are more accurate, and fewer items get trashed. (One company, for example, added a Glacier robot, and found that its paper bales were 17% more pure as a result.) 'Our society tends to view recycling as a nice alternative to landfilling our trash,' says Rebecca Hu-Thrams, one of the cofounders. '[But] we very much see recycling as an absolutely crucial pillar of society's necessary transition toward circular manufacturing. In other words, recycling is at its core a way to get your hands on more raw feedstocks, more materials to turn into new stuff.' Hu-Thrams referenced a customer in the Midwest that installed one of Glacier's AI camera's on what's known as a 'last chance line,' where all the trash leaves the facility and there's one more shot to pick out recyclable items. This facility quickly realized that about two-thirds of its total 'leakage' was coming from beverage bottles; when they identified where and why this was happening, they were able to fix the issue. 'So in the span of a couple of weeks or less, they actually are now on track to rescue 15 million more of these PET bottles every single year that would've ended up in landfill,' says Areeb Malik, Glacier's other cofounder. Amazon plans to install one of these robotic systems in its lab next month. The goal is that as they develop new biopolyesters that are a mix of materials, they can simultaneously be training the system to recognize them and mark them as recyclable—never getting confused and thinking they belong in the trash. 'We want to make sure that once the materials are out in the market, we know that they'll be identified in these systems right away,' says John Shane, a principal materials engineer who worked in Amazon's lab for three years. 'And we'll be able to generate data sets here that we can share with Glacier and then they can share with their customers.' As that information is fed back to the companies, they'll ideally be able to design packaging that's easier to recycle (and better identified by the robot). That's a huge priority for Amazon, which plans to share what it learns from its biopolyester development. 'We don't want to own the IP and keep it to ourselves,' says Jacobsen. 'We want everybody to have access; we have no financial motivation.' EsterCycle—designing chemicals to break down the plastics But even if Glacier's tech scales up and is able to identify much more theoretically recyclable plastic, the current recycling infrastructure isn't necessarily able to transform that into new products. And that's the problem EsterCycle is trying to solve. The Denver-based startup spun out of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory last August, after completing a successful project with Amazon on mixed recycling waste. Julia Curley was a postdoctoral researcher at NREL working on the project; she's now EsterCycle's founder and only full-time employee. Curley stresses that EsterCycle isn't looking to upend traditional recycling processes—it's developing an entirely new one. The goal is to be additive to the current system, taking what MRFs now see as contaminated, lower quality plastic and transforming it into materials that can be made into new products. Our existing system essentially collects bales of similar plastic; shreds, washes, and melts it; and then turns it into something new: It's a mechanical process. EsterCycle, on the other hand, is working on chemical recycling. 'Plastics are made of these long chains of molecules called polymers,' Curley says. 'And what we're doing is actually cutting that chain into its individual components, kind of like taking apart a large string of Legos into its individual pieces. And then they can be remade into new plastics.' (Some environmental groups criticize wide-scale chemical recycling as being a pipe dream of Big Oil, although most of the research in this area thus far solely relates to fossil-fuel-based plastic.) This will be especially relevant for compostable plastics, which are commonly used in food packaging. While this is still a small portion of overall plastic (just 1%, as of 2024), it's projected to keep increasing—and our current infrastructure isn't designed to recycle it. Curley says that currently, if too much of it is in a recycling bale, it will significantly lower the quality and price that a MRF can ask for it. Commercial composters, meanwhile, often don't accept it either, because of contamination issues, or because they're skeptical that it actually breaks down. EsterCycle is now using a lot of these compostable plastics as feedstocks to demonstrate how well its chemical process works at breaking them down and making them usable for the supply chain. As EsterCycle breaks down these kinds of plastics, the resulting 'building blocks' can be sold to any kind of manufacturer. 'The idea is that they can be drop-in additions to existing manufacturing, meaning the process doesn't have to change at all,' Curley says. Novamont—designing packaging to be recycled Novamont, an Italian company, has been working on biodegradable and compostable products since its launch in 1990—and it's exactly the kind of company that might buy those building blocks. Its Mater-Bi is used in things like shopping bags and packaging; while it was originally made out of fossil-fuel-produced polyesters, the company has been working to increase the amount of renewable content in this material. While EsterCycle isn't yet sending its feedstock their way, the idea is that ultimately, Novamont and similar companies would be able to seamlessly incorporate those biopolyesters into their products. In the meantime, Amazon and Novamont are testing out bio-based plastic grocery bags in Amazon Fresh stores in Valencia, Spain. 'That was a great application where paper was being used and it wasn't meeting the requirements,' Jacobsen says. The grocery bags were being put in the fridge before being delivered to customers and because of the moisture, they were falling apart when people took them out. Switching to the plastic bags has 'made it better for the folks that are delivering them and improved it all around.' In the U.S., Jacobsen and his team have been testing out produce bags made from biopolyesters at some Whole Foods locations and at Amazon Fresh stores in the Seattle area. There, they have QR codes where customers can give feedback on the bags. The Amazon lab collects that feedback, shares it with Novamont, and then they keep iterating on the design until it gets closer to what they want. 'We learned that lettuce wilted faster [in the early bags],' says Jacobsen. 'Is it the end of the world? Probably not, but to some customers, it's not ideal.' Researchers at the lab could then take that feedback and reexamine the moisture barrier properties in the bags to see how that element could be adjusted. Once these bags have been used, the goal is that they're fed back into the recycling stream. To that end, Novamont is also conducting trials with one of Glacier's AI models to ensure that the bags can be properly sorted once they reach a MRF. And then, of course, the ideal is that EsterCycle would be able to chemically break down the bags to be fed back into Novamont's production system. Designing a better recycling system—no matter who's in the White House Many of these developments are still years from being widely used in the market. That would seem compounded by the fact that the Trump administration appears actively hostile toward anything that benefits the environment and is cutting funding and staffing at research institutions across the country. (Just last week, 114 people were fired from NREL as part of massive cuts to the Department of Energy.) Jacobsen admitted that it's a bit of 'a wait-and-see period,' and notes that while their funding isn't necessarily dependent on the government, they do partner with government labs 'where there's an opportunity to accelerate progress.' He hopes that will continue to be possible over the next four years. The Glacier team, meanwhile, is cautiously optimistic about what Trump means for their business. 'Recycling in the waste industry as a whole tends to be extremely bipartisan,' says Glacier's Hu-Thrams. 'Whether you're thinking about recycling from a climate crisis mitigation angle, or an onshoring and workforce development and job creation angle, there's so many reasons why advancing recycling infrastructure and recycling efficiency is a really, really good thing to do for our society.' Much of this work is also done at the state and local level, where decisions are more insulated from Trump's rhetoric and slapdash executive orders. That's where Jacobsen hopes to make the most progress, noting that cities like Seattle, San Francisco, and Denver are interested in incorporating these products into their recycling infrastructure. It can be a bit jarring to try to square the innovations coming out of Jacobson's team—and the genuine passion that they have for a fossil-fuel-free supply chain—with Amazon's position as the largest online seller of stuff in the U.S. But our addiction to consumption—and Amazon's commitment to fulfilling it—means that this cycle is unlikely to end anytime soon. Ensuring that it's not wrapped in plastic made from fossil fuels is a big deal. And if they're successful at transforming food packaging, it has implications far beyond just what we eat.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
More brands are turning to biodegradable packaging
As the world confronts the dual challenges of plastic pollution and climate change, biodegradable polymers are emerging as a beacon of hope in the quest for sustainable materials. These environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional plastics are gaining traction across various industries, driven by consumer demand, scientific innovation, and government regulations. The shift towards biodegradable polymers reflects a broader movement to embrace circular economy principles, where materials are designed to return safely to nature without lasting environmental harm. Biodegradable polymers, sometimes referred to as bioplastics, are materials that can decompose into natural elements such as carbon dioxide, water, and biomass, often through microbial activity. Unlike traditional plastics derived from petroleum, which can persist in the environment for hundreds of years, these materials break down over a far shorter time span. Their rising popularity underscores a fundamental rethinking of how materials are sourced, used, and disposed of in modern society. At the heart of biodegradable polymers lies their unique chemical structure. Unlike traditional plastics, whose carbon backbone is highly resistant to degradation, biodegradable polymers contain functional groups such as esters, amides or ethers, which are more susceptible to enzymatic or hydrolytic breakdown. This means that under the right environmental conditions—typically with moisture, oxygen, and microbial presence—these materials can be broken down into non-toxic by-products. There are two broad categories of biodegradable polymers: those derived from renewable biological sources and those synthesised from petrochemicals but engineered to degrade. Polylactic acid (PLA), made from fermented plant starches like corn or sugarcane, and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), produced by bacterial fermentation of sugars or lipids, are among the most well-known bio-based examples. Others, such as polycaprolactone (PCL), are synthetic but designed to decompose under specific conditions. The degradation rate of these materials varies depending on their composition and the disposal environment. For instance, PLA may degrade effectively in industrial composting facilities, but not in home compost or marine settings. As such, appropriate disposal infrastructure remains critical to ensuring that biodegradable polymers deliver their intended environmental benefits. Biodegradable polymers have found a growing number of applications, thanks to ongoing improvements in performance, cost-efficiency, and scalability. In packaging—a sector that accounts for a significant portion of global plastic waste—these materials are increasingly used to produce compostable food containers, films, and bags. Major retailers and food companies have started adopting such solutions to align with sustainability targets and appeal to eco-conscious consumers. In agriculture, biodegradable mulch films offer a promising alternative to conventional plastic sheeting. These films help conserve soil moisture, reduce weed growth, and enhance crop yield, while eliminating the need for costly and labour-intensive removal at the end of the season. Once their function is complete, they naturally degrade into the soil, leaving no residue behind. The medical field is another area witnessing innovation with biodegradable polymers. Their ability to safely disintegrate within the human body makes them ideal for temporary implants, drug delivery systems, and surgical sutures. Polyglycolic acid (PGA) and PLA, for instance, are widely used in bioresorbable stents and controlled-release capsules, offering both clinical efficacy and patient convenience. Even the fashion and textile industries are beginning to experiment with biodegradable fibres, addressing the environmental toll of synthetic textiles that often end up in landfills or the oceans. As consumer awareness grows, brands that embrace truly sustainable materials may gain a competitive edge in a crowded marketplace. Despite their many advantages, biodegradable polymers are not without limitations. One major concern is the misconception that these materials will degrade anywhere, under any conditions. In reality, many require specific industrial composting environments to break down fully, which are not universally available. When disposed of in landfill or in nature, some biodegradable plastics may perform little better than conventional ones, potentially undermining environmental goals. Cost is another barrier. Biodegradable polymers are often more expensive to produce than traditional plastics, mainly due to raw material sourcing and lower production volumes. However, as technology matures and economies of scale are achieved, the price gap is expected to narrow. From a policy standpoint, clearer labelling and regulatory standards are essential to guide both consumers and manufacturers. Misleading claims around biodegradability can lead to confusion and greenwashing. Governments across the globe are beginning to legislate more tightly around plastic usage, which could accelerate the adoption of genuinely biodegradable alternatives. Looking ahead, ongoing research is focused on enhancing the properties of biodegradable polymers—such as strength, transparency, and shelf life—without compromising their environmental credentials. Scientists are also exploring new feedstocks, including algae, food waste, and even captured carbon, to produce next-generation materials that are both sustainable and circular. The rise of biodegradable polymers signals a significant step towards reducing humanity's environmental footprint. While no single material can solve the plastic crisis alone, integrating biodegradable options into a broader suite of sustainable practices can make a tangible difference. With the right blend of innovation, policy, and public engagement, the future of materials science may well be greener than ever. "More brands are turning to biodegradable packaging" was originally created and published by Packaging Gateway, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
