Degradable Materials Market - By Degradation Method, By Product Type, By Application and By Geography Analysis - Forecast 2020 - 2025

Degradable materials market size is forecast to reach $XX million by 2025, after growing at a CAGR of 9% during 2020-2025. With rise in the consumption of eco-friendly products, the demand for degradable materials to manufacture environment friendly products is also increasing due to which the degradable materials market is witnessing an increase in its demand. Degradable materials were introduced in the market to address litter and to reduce landfill waste. In addition, government and environmental governing bodies around the world have imposed various policies to encourage the use of degradable materials products, which is anticipated to drive the degradable materials market during the forecast period.

The report: “Degradable Materials Market – Forecast (2020-2025)”, by IndustryARC, covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the degradable materials Industry. 

By Degradation Method: Bio-Degradable (Oxo-Biodegradable, and Hydro-Biodegradable), Photo-Degradable, and Others

By Product Type: Polybutylene Succinate (PBS), Polybutyrate Adipate Terephthalate (PBAT), Polylactic Acid (PLA), Polycaprolactone (PCL), and Others

By Application: Food Packaging, Pharmaceutical Packaging, Electronics Packaging, and Others

By Geography: North-America, South-America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and RoW

The bio-degradable material segment held the largest share in the degradable materials market in 2019, owing to the increasing demand for biodegradable materials from various end-use industries such as food packaging, pharmaceutical packaging, electronic packaging, and more. There is a rise in demand for biodegradable packaging as they easily break down to decompose naturally in the environment, giving an end product that is less harmful to the environment. Also, they have additives that speed up their rate of decay or breakdown in the presence of oxygen and light. The presence of the sun’s UV light and moisture also accelerates the breakdown process, which is the key factor anticipated to boost the demand for biodegradable materials during the forecast period.

The food packaging application held the largest share in the degradable materials market in 2019 and is growing at a CAGR of 9.4%, owing to the increasing application of degradable materials in the food and beverage industry such as manufacturing bottles, foam trays, films, cutlery, sheets, containers, bags and more. Food packaging industries are using degradable materials as packaging material since they are non-toxic and they have no chemicals or toxins. Also, since biodegradable packaging is recyclable, its bio waste can be used as compost or as renewable energy for biogas. Even the governments are taking initiatives to promote sustainable packaging to reduce the environmental impact. In 2018, the Australian Government agreed to the ambitious target that 100 percent of Australian packaging will be recyclable, compostable, or reusable by 2025 or earlier to cut down on the amount of waste produced. Also, the United Kingdom Government announced an investment of up to £60m for sustainable packaging. Thus, all the extensive properties of degradable materials in addition to the government initiatives are the main factor driving the degradable materials market in the food packaging industry during the forecast period.

North America held the largest share in the degradable materials market in 2019 up to 28%, owing to the rising consumption of degradable bio-based commodities and stringent government regulations that enforce the usage of biodegradable plastics rather than non-biodegradable plastics in the region. Various governments in the North American states have taken initiatives to decrease the pollution by using degradable materials. In January 2019, the Jamaican government banned the use of plastics, polystyrene, straws, and Styrofoam containers. In July 2019, Panama banned single-use plastic bags to curb pollution. Also, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is certifying various products to be bio-based, as a market development initiative to increase consumer and buyer recognition, which will further lead to increasing adoption of degradable materials in the market. The Government of Canada is taking steps to divert at least 75% of plastic waste by 2030 and reduce the use of single-use plastic by procuring sustainable plastic products. All these government initiatives are anticipated to increase the demand for degradable and biodegradable materials in the market.

Several countries have implemented taxes to discourage the use of non-biodegradable materials such as plastic bags and encourage the biodegradable option. Various international governments have imposed outright bans on non-biodegradable plastics in order to reduce consumption and control the indiscriminate disposal of bags in the environment such as in May 2019, the Nigerian house representatives banned the import, usage, and production of plastic bags in the country. In October 2017, Cambodia enforced tax on plastic bags. In January 2017, large retailers are required to charge the customers for plastic bags with handles in Israel. In 2018, Taiwan announced its strategy to ban petroleum-based plastics in stores by sticking prohibition in offering bags at stores in 2020, increasing the price in 2025, and then finally by 2030 total ban of petroleum-based bags. As such almost 127 countries have adopted some legislation to regulate the usage of standard plastics and have unlatched the door for degradable materials, which acts as a driver for the degradable materials market.

 

The complex manufacturing processes make biodegradable plastics costly. Because of the limited availability and higher raw material cost, biodegradable plastics are more expensive than their petroleum-based non-biodegradable counterparts. Their cost depends on many factors including the type of polymer, raw material cost, amount of material, availability, and more. Also, for manufacturing biodegradable materials like PLA, PHB in bulk, more time and labor are required for the polymerization process. Thus, the high cost related to the biodegradable materials due to the complex manufacturing process acts as a hindrance for the degradable materials market during the forecast period.

Technology launches, acquisitions, and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the degradable materials market. In 2019, the market of degradable materials has been consolidated by the top five players accounting for xx% of the share. Major players in the degradable materials market are Metabolix Inc., BASF SE, Corbion NV (PURAC), Natureworks LLC, Biome Technologies PLC, Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Plantic Technologies Limited, Bio-On SRL., Meredian Inc., Tianan Biologic Materials Co. Limited.