3FOOD

Third Industrial Revolution Consulting Group
Biofeedstocks for Bioplastics
Europe produced 57 million tonnes of plastics in 2013, with the majority (39%) being used in
the packaging sector. The EU2020 has set a target of 10% of market plastics being bioplastics.
The European Bioplastics association estimated 1.7 million tonnes of bioplastics were produced
in 2014 worldwide on 680,000 hectares of land, suggesting an average yield of 2.5 tonnes of
bioplastics per hectare. 140 Bioplastics production is projected to increase four-fold by 2020
worldwide. 141 Global and Europe Plastics production trends 2002-2013
Source: Plastics Europe (2014) 142
As immense as the growth in plastics has been over the past several decades, the projected
expansion over the decades to come remains significant. If expanding in the traditional linear
economy fashion of “take-make-dispose” then the amount of oil consumed will increase more
than 300 percent, the plastics share of CO 2 emissions will increase 15-fold, and the plastics
disposed into the ocean will result in plastic waste exceeding fish in weight! 143 In sharp
140 European Bioplastics (2016) Renewable Feedstock, http://www.europeanbioplastics.org/bioplastics/feedstock/.
141 Whitworth, Joe (2014) Bioplastics market will grow by more than 400% by 2018, Bakery and Snacks news,
December 03, 2014, http://www.bakeryandsnacks.com/Processing-Packaging/Asia-will-expand-role-in-
Bioplastics-growth.
142 Plastics Europe (2015) Plastics – the Facts 2014/2015, An analysis of European plastics production, demand and
waste data,
143 WEF/EMF/MCBE (2015) The New Plastics Economy, Rethinking the future of plastics, World Economic Forum in
collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and McKinsey Center for Business and Environment, January
2016.
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