MUNDOMATERIAL

In 2006 I conducted a market study about the European Bioplastics market. I recently got the chance of taking part in a consultancy project that, amongst other things, took a look at bioplastics. Thanks to it I have been able to check the big changes that have taken place in the market in just 5 years, taking bioplastics from having a reduced market penetration to becoming one of the most important trends within the polymer market. Source: Darwin Bell An increasing number of competitors In 2006 the number of “real” producers was reduced. There were several producers of starch based blends and Novamont was (and still is) the European market leader when considering production capacity. However, in the field of PLA production there have been important changes. In 2006 the sole producer was NatureWorks. It was the only company with an industrial production and there were only projects from other companies that were studying the possibility of using lactic acid to produce PLA. Nowadays... 
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In my last post, I discussed why it is important for bioplastics to penetrate the market of durable applications. I suggested that this was a new step for the industry and I’ve been politely corrected by Todd Rogers, Market Manager- Polyamides at Arkema Inc, who pointed out that Arkema has been commercialising durable bioplastics for nearly 50 years. To amend my mistake and provide me with more info, Mr Rogers and I spend some time discussing Arkema’s Renewable range, the recently created Bioplastics Council and some of the environmental challenges faced by the plastics industry. Arkema Renewables Arkema has been producing at commercial scale for more than 40 years a high performance polyamide, PA11, under the tradename of Rilsan®. The fact that Rilsan® is derived from castor oil, a renewable source, has not been a top marketing priority until recently —I don’t think the market place was requesting bioplastics until recently. Most of our customers were and still are... 
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As I already mentioned in Bioplastics, there are two main types of renewable plastics: Identical chemistry to oil based plastics New chemistry Today I’m going to tell you a bit what’s being done to renew old plastics thanks to natural resources. Companies involved in the production of these plastics know very well the biggest advantage of their materials with respect to other bioplastics: direct substitution. Since their composition is the same as very common plastics, like PE or PU, they save users the need to adapt their processes. On the other hand, it only needs to be marketed as an improved product, of added value, in already existing markets. Great part of the job of bioplastics producers has being until recently to explain their products and find applications, more than selling sizeable amounts of it. For this reason, big polyolefin producers have already moved to add renewable products to their portfolio. Dow, I have already explained its growth and diversification... 
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Before I start, I would like to say that this post intends to be a brief introduction to the wide field of bioplastics, which I intend to discuss in more detail in the future. Let’s say that it’s a guide for those of you who are not familiar with this family of products. When talking about bioplastics, we usually refer to polymers sourced partial or totally from natural and renewable resources. Some of them have a different chemistry from already existing plastics while others are as common in their oil based form as polyolefins or polyurethane. Today I’m going to talk about the “new” ones; soon I’ll discuss how old plastics are renewing themselves thanks to plants. There are two main rivals at the moment in the bioplastics market: PLA, or polylactic acid, and starch based blends. Both are mainly sourced from corn, although any plant rich in starch or sugar can potentially be a viable source. They also share their capacity to biodegrade, a quality that... 
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