Improvements to cost, performance and moisture barrier properties of bioplastics, along with more investment in sorting technology to prevent contamination of recycling waste streams will enable the industry to compete more effectively with conventional plastics, as per a report in Foodproductiondaily.
Cost of bioplastics serves as a hindrance to the development of bioplastics for food and drink packaging. Added efforts and investment in R&D will be needed to ensure they become technologically and environmentally competitive. Producers of bioplastic packaging are aiming for price stabilization by 2015. As per BCC Research Group, the market for biodegradable plastics, in terms of volume, reached 541 million lbs in 2007, and is expected to reach 1.2 billion lbs by 2012. Freedonia predicts that natural polymer demand will grow 7.1% pa to US$4 bln in 2012, with expansion due in part to improved production technologies for materials such as PLA.
Read more in http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Packaging/Price-stabilization-of-bioplastics-expected-in-2015
Authored by Jane Byrne, 28 Nov 08
01-Dec-08 
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