Europe announced the global bioplastics data for 2024. Will PLA and PHA dominate the future?
On December 10, 2024, the European Bioplastics Association (EUBP) announced global bioplastics data. Bioplastics currently account for about 0.5% of the nearly 414 million tons of plastics produced each year. 1. The expected future production capacity has been greatly reduced. In terms of global bioplastics (including bio-based materials and biodegradable plastics), the production capacity of global bioplastics (including bio-based materials and biodegradable plastics) continues to grow. It is predicted that the global bioplastics production capacity will be 2.47 million tons in 2024 and will grow to 5.73 million tons in 2029.
However, compared with the data of the previous year, the future expectations have been greatly reduced: EUBP predicted in December 2023 that the global bioplastics production capacity will be 2.67 million tons in 2024 and will grow to 7.43 million tons in 2028. In fact, EUBP will constantly adjust future forecasts and even revise historical data based on current policies and markets.
PLA and PHA have the best market prospects. Bioplastics substitutes are suitable for almost all traditional plastic materials and corresponding applications. Data shows that due to the strong development of bio-based and biodegradable polymers, bioplastics production capacity will continue to increase significantly in the next five years, that is, in 2029, including polylactic acid (PLA, accounting for 42.3% or 2.42 million tons), polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA, accounting for 17.0% or 970,000 tons), bio-based polyethylene (PE, accounting for 8.9% or 510,000 tons) and bio-based polypropylene (PP, accounting for 8.5% or 490,000 tons).
Packaging is still the largest market segment for bioplastics The application of bioplastics is becoming more and more extensive, from packaging and fibers to consumer goods, automobiles and agricultural products. Packaging is still the largest market segment for bioplastics, accounting for 45% (1.12 million tons) of the total bioplastics market in 2024.
The output of bioplastics in 2024 is 1.44 million tons, and the capacity utilization rate is close to 60%. In terms of output, the output of bioplastics in 2024 is 1.44 million tons, a slight increase from 1.37 million tons in 2023.
Regarding capacity utilization, the average utilization rate in 2024 is 58% (1.44 million tons of production to 2.47 million tons of capacity), although some parts of different polymers vary greatly, ranging from 35% to 100%.
Hasso von Pogrell, Managing Director of EUBP, concluded: "Whether actual production can be brought closer to existing capacity will largely depend on the specific interpretation of the recent regulation (PPWR) and other future legislation for the European plastics market."
