The bioplastics market - Belgium

1.1 Presentation

Bioplastics cover agrosourced or agroplastic plastics from renewable resources such as corn, sweet potato, wheat, sugar cane or castor oil. The term "bioplastic" also refers to biodegradable plastics including plastics from petrochemical reactions

It is possible to use bioplastics at the same time during manufacture:

• d’ disposable items
• d’ non-disposable items (example: mobile phone boxes). Indeed, the use of bioplastics reduces greenhouse gas emissions during the production process.

The bioplastic applications are numerous . Examples include: food packaging, bags, agriculture, disposable products, hygiene and cosmetic products, the automotive sector

The global bioplastics production capacities are growing and are expected to continue to grow in the coming years, with packaging being the main market. The bioplastics market is becoming increasingly attractive the food giants fond of more environmentally friendly production methods

However, the production of bioplastics faces two major criticisms. First, competition with the food sector, given the origin of the products used to produce it, and then the enormous need for water and arable land

The Belgian bioplastics market is based in particular on an increasingly environmentally conscious consumer base even if bioplastics still suffers from a lack of notoriety. Hence the importance of labels which make it possible to communicate and certify the reliability of products and thus gain the confidence of these consumers

The bioplastics sector is also driven by the research and development and the different innovations for increasingly diverse applications such as water-soluble thermoplastic