London, January07,2015: Future Market Insights (FMI), a London-based market research and consulting firm,in its latest report titled “Global Bio-based Biodegradable Plastics – Market Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2014–2020”, delivers valuable insights on the global bio-based biodegradable plastics market. According to the report, though the global bio-based biodegradable plastics market is in its nascent stage, it is expected to demonstrate a double-digit CAGR during forecast period 2014–2020.

Global penetration of biodegradable and bio-based biodegradable plastics is currently considerably low in comparison to that of traditional fossil-based plastics. According to FMI, of the 300 million metric tonnes of plastics consumed in 2013, biodegradable plastics accounted for only 0.21% of the total consumption. In the same year, total consumption of bio-based biodegradable plastics was 591,000 metric tonnes, accounting for 0.1% share of the total global plastics consumption.

Shambhu Jha, Lead Consultant at FMI said, “Consumption of bio-based biodegradable plastics is substantially lowcompared to that of the fossil fuel-based plastics,but it is expected to witness rapid upward growth over the next five years.” He further added, “By 2020, the total revenue of the global bio-based biodegradable plastics market is expected to grow by slightly overtwo and a half times.”

Regional Bio-based Biodegradable Plastics Markets to Demonstrate an Impressive CAGR till 2020

Currently, Western Europe leads the bio-based biodegradable plastics market, followed by North America. The European bio-based biodegradable plastics market is relatively mature due to early adoption of these materialsas compared to Asia Pacific and North America. North America is the second-largest market and is estimated to demonstrate healthy double-digit growth between 2014 and 2020. On the other hand, the bio-based biodegradable plastics market in Latin America is expected to demonstrate the highest growth rate during the forecast period, followed by Asia Pacific.

Japan is another prominent market for bio-based biodegradable plastics, characterized by product innovation through substantial investmentsinto R&D activities“Manufacturers in the bio-based biodegradable plastics market in Japan are consistently introducing new products,and creating a trend that isbeing followed by manufacturers in developed markets such as the U.S., Germany and France”, said Jha. The Japanese bio-based biodegradable plastics market is projected to demonstrate a sluggish growth rate as compared to that of the other APAC countries during the forecast period.

In terms of application, the packaging sector accounts for the largest share of the global bio-based biodegradable plastics market. Growth of the packaging sector in the global bio-based biodegradable plastics market is largely driven by Europe and is projected to demonstrate robust growth during the forecast period.Other key application sectors of bio-based biodegradable plasticsinclude fibres, agriculture and medical. Polyester, starch blends, poly lactic acid (PLA), poly hydroxyalkanoates (PHA) and cellulose are major product types of bio-based biodegradable plastics. However, apart from the abovementioned types, there are other product types which cumulatively account for around 20% of the overall market in terms of value. Polyester and PLA product types are estimated to dominate the global bio-based biodegradable plastics market, since in 2014, both types were cumulatively estimated to account for over 60% of the total market value.

FMI projects that the demand for these two product categories wouldgrow at a double-digit CAGR during the forecast period.Furthermore, the starch-blend segment of the bio-based biodegradable plastics marketis expected to demonstrate slightly lower CAGRthan polyester and PLA throughout the forecast period.