IDTechEX noted that companies such as Corbion and Avantium have been “successfully developing partnerships with major food and beverage companies, with Avantium recently winning the support of Carlsberg and Coca-Cola for its plant-based bottle that the company claims can biodegrade in a year.”

The report’s executive summary acknowledges bioplastics’ struggle to become mainstream, noting that these materials “could be a renewable and more sustainable alternative to fossil-based plastics.” It goes on to say that “unlike the vast majority of fossil-based plastics, many bioplastics are biodegradable, which could help provide a solution to the . . . [global] escalation in plastic waste.”  (The italics are mine.) The summary also rightly acknowledges bioplastics’ historical struggle “to deliver the same performance as fossil-based plastics,” although technology is increasingly closing the gap.

However, bioplastics will cost the consumer. “In general, consumers are willing to pay a bit extra for a green product, but only up to a point — the majority are happy to pay 5% extra for a green product, but this drops rapidly if the price difference grows any further,” said IDTechEX. “Unfortunately, bioplastics can be costly to produce and can only compete on price with fossil-based plastics if oil prices are high. Around seven years ago, oil prices were steadily growing, and the future looked bright for the bioplastics industry.”

Granted, technological improvements have helped reduce the cost to manufacture, and the increased “global focus on sustainability” means that bioplastics have become an “increasingly attractive option for many governments.” Without realizing what it just said in that statement, IDTechEX has provided us with another reason bioplastics aren’t taking over a large share of the plastics market. Governments started legislating against conventional plastics and mandating the use of bioplastics — the new silver bullet to rid the world of plastic waste. It just doesn’t work. In free-market systems, the product’s form, fit, and function determine its success. You cannot mandate or legislate a product to be successful, in spite of the hopes the bioplastics industry pinned on those methods to increase demand for its materials.

In my view, there are still many promises the bioplastics industry has to keep — and it likely has miles to go before it can sleep comfortably knowing that the world is free of plastic waste.

Again, that is perhaps another reason for the lack of market share for bioplastics: They must be left in the open environment with sunlight, oxygen, water, and microbes in order to biodegrade. Given that the goal of sustainability is to get plastic waste out of the environment, what is the point of making a plastic designed to be put in the environment with the promise that it will degrade in a year. Does anyone want to look at a plastic product — even one that we are promised will eventually go away — for a year? Additionally, the plastic nay-sayers will further complain about the presence of microplastics in the oceans and the soil, noting that bioplastics don’t degrade into nothing, but into tiny particles that get into the food chain.

Stork IMM has partnered with Valley Group Inc., Fishersville, Va., to provide machine installation and field service and maintenance support for Stork IMM’s existing and new customers. “This partnership will ensure blanket support across the U.S. for all our customers,” said Boers. The company’s 2500-m2 facility includes spare parts, office, and warehouse space.

Oil prices ride the same roller coaster as many other commodities. Like the recycling industry, the bioplastics industry is discovering this, and it seems to be interfering with the demand for bioplastics. “Despite the clear environmental advantages, bioplastics still only have about a 0.5% market share of the global plastics industry,” said IDTechEX. “This raises the question: Why aren’t bioplastics growing faster?”

Until she retired in September 2021, Clare Goldsberry reported on the plastics industry for more than 30 years. In addition to the 10,000+ articles she has written, by her own estimation, she is the author of several books, including The Business of Injection Molding: How to succeed as a custom molder and Purchasing Injection Molds: A buyers guide. Goldsberry is a member of the Plastics Pioneers Association. She reflected on her long career in "Time to Say Good-Bye."

“We envision significant business opportunities in the U.S. and we’ve now laid the groundwork so we can build on our customer base,” said Gert Boers, CEO of Stork IMM. “With the establishment of domestic service and spare parts, we’re now uniquely positioned to scale up and grow our business.”

The bright spots over the past six months, as IDTechEX notes, include the huge demand for single-use packaging, thanks to demand for food delivery packaging and retailers banning reusable bags to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. “While this growth in demand for plastics will be some comfort to the bioplastics industry (although probably not for the world’s oceans), the climate is still extremely worrying for the industry,” concludes IDTechEX. Increasing corporate commitments via sustainable plastic pledges made over the past few years have given a glimmer of hope to bioplastics’ survival, according to IDTechEX, but the “next few months could be pivotal for the bioplastics industry.”

The new U.S. subsidiary, called Stork IMM USA LLC, builds upon Stork IMM’s 25-year history in the North American market. The company manufactures injection moulding machines ranging in size from 200 to 2,000 tons for high-speed packaging applications.

And just when the bioplastics industry thought it was safe to come out of the water, so to speak, along came 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, which put a halt to global transportation and with it the demand for oil. “The crash in global oil prices threatened to suck the life out of the resurging bioplastics industry, creating a huge gulf in prices between bioplastics and fossil-based plastics,” said IDTechEX’s report.

Bioplastics can be costly to produce and can only compete on price with fossil-based plastics if oil prices are high, and they aren’t.

Stork IMM has sold injection moulding machines in North America for more than 25 years. The company’s robust, high-speed injection moulding machinery is a superior solution for the production of food-grade, thin-wall packaging made of polyolefins (PE and PP). Key applications include closures, tubs, containers, and cups along with flower pots, and paint pails and buckets.

Polymer prices have always been tied to their raw material costs, such as oil and natural gas. Falling prices for both of these constituent materials has correspondingly resulted in reduced prices for virgin plastics. The industry has experienced this carnival ride over the past few decades, and demand for recycled materials reluctantly has been along for the ride.

According to a recent report from IDTechEx, the recent bottoming out in the oil market has created a similar situation for the bioplastics industry, which had just begun to grab a foothold in the consumer goods market. The “Bioplastics: 2020-2025” report explores emerging technologies around bioplastics and forecasts the future of the industry over the next five years.

Molnar, based in Toronto, was formerly president of Molding Excellence (TM) Inc. in Toronto and has held leading roles in executive management, business development, and coaching/mentoring with leading companies in injection moulding, hot runners, automation, and mould cooling. Molnar has served in key leadership positions at RJG Inc, Mold-Masters, and Husky Injection Molding Systems. He holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Waterloo, and an MBA from the Wilfrid Laurier University.

Ten or so years ago, virgin PET was cheaper than recycled PET (rPET) because of the costs to collect, sort, and re-process the recyclate. Packaging companies complained to me at various trade shows that commitments to higher recycled content in their packaging were becoming hard to keep. It was also pushing their prices higher. Consumers are willing to pay a bit more for products in recycled-content packaging, but there are limits.

To support the North American business, Stork IMM has also hired two new directors of business development, George Kotzeff and Scott Molnar.

Stork IMM’s personnel hires have held leadership roles at some of the world’s leading machine and converting companies.  Kotzeff, based in California, has worked in key account manager roles at both Husky Injection Molding Systems and Sidel Inc. Most recently, he worked as a consultant with packaging companies including Rplanet, Power Hydration, and INOSIP. He holds a Bsc Engineering-Mechanical degree from the University of Guelph.

Netherlands-based Stork IMM (Stork Plastic Machinery B.V.), a manufacturer of injection moulding machines for the packaging market, announced the opening of a sales and service operation in Swedesboro, N.J.

While IDTechEX claims that the short answer is price and consumers’ reluctance to pay a lot more for “green” products and packaging, I’m not so sure it’s that simple. Taking a deeper look into the promises of bioplastics might give us a better picture of the continued struggles of bioplastics, even after seeing some steady growth since 2014.

What goes up, however, must come down. IDTechEX explained that “in 2014, oil prices crashed, throwing the bioplastics industry into turmoil. In the following years, many major bioplastics companies went out of business or rebranded.” Citing some examples, IDTechEX noted that after spending over $300 million on a bioplastics production plant, Metabolix abandoned the project, changing its name to Yield10 Bioscience and changing its focus to agritech. In January 2020, Italian PHA producer Bio-On was declared bankrupt, less than a year after having been valued at over $1 billion. CEO Marco Astorri was arrested in October 2019, following accusations of false accounting and market manipulation.”

IDTechEX points to other new technologies, such as one developed by Anellotech “which recently announced construction of a plant capable of producing 40,000 tonnes per year of biologically derived aromatic compounds, valuable starting materials for bioplastic production.” Additionally, in 2016, “Metabolic Explorer announced the construction of a plant able to produce 50,000 tonnes per year of biobased 1,3-propanediol, another important starting material in bioplastic production.”