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This e-book addresses the outlook for bio-based polymers and the drivers and challenges for these materials in the market. It addresses production economics, regulations, and investment and incentives. It details the state of the biopolymer industry, feedstocks and production processes used and key applications.
This e-book looks at today's converting processes and how they are likely to evolve over the next five to 10 years.
Executive summary
Introduction and methodology
- Report scope
- Report objective
- Methodology
- List of definitions
Biopolymers: state of the industry
- Background
- Polymer industry today
- Biopolymers
- Drivers and barriers to commercialisation
- Economics
- Policies and regulations
- Investment and incentives
- Future outlook
- Cost of fossil fuels
- Regulations and the 'carbon footprint'
- Global economies
- Technology in biorenewables
Biopolymer processing
- Feedstocks
- Production processing
- Types of biopolymers produced
- Sugar-based biopolymers
- Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)
- Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)
- Poly (3-Hydroxybutyrate-co-3-Hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV)
- Polylactic acid (PLA)
- Blends and compounds
- Key biopolymer producers
Applications for biopolymers
- Early applications
- Legislation
- Applications
- Film
- Fibres
- Containers
- Bottles
- Key conversion processes
- Extrusion
- Injection moulding
- Thermoforming
- Examples of other conversion processes
Biopolymers on the horizon
- Competition with incumbent, petrochemical-based
- polymers
- Innovation in white biotechnology
- Evolution of biopolymers over the next 5-10 years
- Processing improvements
- Emerging applications