European Bioplastics: Fivefold growth of the bioplastics market by 2016 / Biobased PET contributes significantly with a tenfold increase in its capacity

Berlin (ots) - An above-average positive development in
bioplastics production capacity has made past projections obsolete.
The market of around 1.2 million tonnes in 2011 will see a fivefold
increase in production volumes by 2016 - to an anticipated almost 6
million tonnes. This is the result of the current market forecast,
which the industry association European Bioplastics publishes
annually in cooperation with the Institute for Bioplastics and
Biocomposites from the University of Hannover.

The worldwide production capacity for bioplastics will increase
from around 1.2 million tonnes in 2011 to approximately 5.8 million
tonnes by 2016. By far the strongest growth will be in the biobased,
non-biodegradable bioplastics group. Especially the so-called
'drop-in' solutions, i.e. biobased versions of bulk plastics like PE
and PET, that merely differ from their conventional counterparts in
terms of their renewable raw material base, are building up large
capacities. Leading the field is partially biobased PET, which is
already accounting for approximately 40 percent of the global
bioplastics production capacity. Partially biobased PET will continue
to extend this lead to more than 4.6 million tonnes by 2016. That
would correspond to 80 percent of the total bioplastics production
capacity. Following PET is biobased PE with 250,000 tonnes,
constituting more than 4 percent of the total production capacity.

"But also biodegradable plastics are demonstrating impressive
growth rates. Their production capacity will increase by two-thirds
by 2016," states Hasso von Pogrell, Managing Director of European
Bioplastics. Leading contributors to this growth will be PLA and PHA,
each of them accounting for 298,000 tonnes (+50 percent) and 142,000
tonnes (+ 550 percent) respectively.

"The enormous growth makes allowance for the constantly increasing
demand for sustainable solutions in the plastics market. Eventually,
bioplastics have achieved an established position in numerous
application areas, from the packaging market to the electronics
sector and the automotive industry", says von Pogrell.

Market data charts can be downloaded in English and German here at
http://ots.de/f7tUA .

Press contact:

Kristy-Barbara Lange, Head of Communications, European Bioplastics
Tel.: +49 30 28482 356
Email: press@european-bioplastics.org
www.european.bioplastics.org