Biodegradable plastic utensils
Technical Summary

Bioplastics

Project Drawdown defines bioplastics as replacing petroleum-based plastics with biomass feedstock–based plastic materials (also referred to as biopolymers). This solution replaces traditional plastics made from petroleum.

The fossil-based system of plastics manufacturing is characterized by the extraction of hydrocarbons from the Earth and the use of this fossil resource as a raw material to create different plastic products. The agricultural process uses carbon dioxide taken in by plants through photosynthesis; the plants are harvested and used to create bioplastics. The carbon in these materials is known as biogenic carbon. Climate emissions reductions from bioplastics are achieved through the atmospheric origin of the carbon within the materials themselves and through keeping production impacts low enough to realize the benefits of the biogenic carbon.

Methodology

To arrive at the results for mitigation impact and financial considerations for bioplastics, several steps were taken. 1) A forecast was calculated for the total million metric tons of plastics production from 2014 to 2050. 2) Current adoption[1] of bioplastics was determined. 3) Future adoption scenarios of bioplastics were forecast for that period. 4) An emissions mitigation value was derived per million metric tons of bioplastics produced. 5) The emissions mitigated and costs were calculated in comparison to a Reference Scenario that keeps bioplastics adoption at its current percentage of global plastics adoption.

Total Addressable Market

The total addressable market for plastics was measured by finding a best-fit trend line (using a third-order polynomial expression) among four different data sets of forecasted plastics adoption from 2020 to 2050. The four data sets were derived primarily from PlasticsEurope (2019) and the World Economic Forum (2016), using different growth rates and benchmarks to inform extrapolation.

Adoption Scenarios

Impacts of increased adoption of bioplastics from 2020 to 2050 were generated based on two growth scenarios. These were assessed in comparison to the Reference Scenario mentioned above.

Custom adoption scenarios for bioplastics were created by using Project Drawdown’s land use models to set plausible land use for generating bioplastic feedstock; considering the municipal solid waste fractions that could plausibly be attributed to recyclable or compostable plastics; and taking existing prognostications from European Bioplastics (2018) that could be extrapolated.  Scenarios were generated using third-order polynomial extrapolations, and a ceiling was fixed on adoption based on the other factors described.

For bioplastics, two scenarios were developed:

  • Scenario 1: The bioplastics market grows to 92 million metric tons, or 12 percent of the total plastics market of 782 million metric tons in 2050.
  • Scenario 2: Bioplastics grows to 357 million metric tons,  or 46 percent of the market in 2050. 

Emissions Model

Using values from more than 25 studies, an average difference in carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions between traditional plastics and bioplastics was generated. A weighted average based on type of plastic and market share results in approximately 0.933 units of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions per unit of bioplastics produced, compared with traditional plastics, which have direct emissions of approximately 2.4. Despite the large potential for improvement in bioplastic technologies in the coming years, this emissions reduction value is assumed to stay constant over the 30-year time frame that was modeled. 

Financial Model

Production costs used for this solution for both traditional plastics and bioplastics are based on the most currently available price data and a projection for prices in 2020 from the literature (Shen, 2009, Biron, 2015, Rorrer 2017, Ashok 2018). The data found within the literature, via email, and in online market reports from 2011 to 2015 were averaged to estimate current market prices and combined with future estimates for polypropylene and bioplastics in an attempt to accommodate both historical prices and future trends within the model. Rather than try to predict undulations in the market, a static price was assigned over the next 30 years, which is assumed to be an approximation of the average price in that time frame.

Integration

As already noted, integration with other Project Drawdown solutions has limited the adoption of bioplastics by cropland available to be allocated to the production of bioplastic feedstocks. Assumptions are also made as to what portion of bioplastics is compostable and what is recyclable, in order to adjust the market for composting and recycling as well as to adjust the fraction of waste, low heat value, and degradable carbon remaining to be used in waste-to-energy and landfill methane capture solutions.

Results

The total carbon dioxide-equivalent reductions that can be achieved from 2020 to 2050 in Scenario 1 are 0.96 gigatons, with a cumulative first cost of production of US$2065 billion. Scenario 2 shows a mitigation of 3.8 gigatons from 2020 to 2050. 

Discussion

Bioplastics are nascent technologies and will continue to develop. As such, there are some areas of uncertainty regarding the model and there is room for improvement in future iterations. While there was quite a bit of literature dedicated to measuring the climate impacts of fossil plastics and bioplastics, there are many different types of bioplastics, each with different feedstocks and production techniques. The current model aggregates all plastics and biopolymers into two generalized groups, but future versions should consider each different polymer type and production method. The same holds true for prices that were aggregated in the same manner.

Additional work could also be done on a robust financial breakdown of plastic commodities and feedstock availability, including a techno-economic analysis of bioplastics. Production models could also include more nuanced data regarding geographical production rates, recycling rates, and source reductions, even if they are already accounted for in the aggregate in this version of the model. In conclusion, this analysis suggests that the bioplastics market can grow to replace a significant portion of traditional plastics, while reducing climate emissions.


[1] Current adoption is defined as the amount of functional demand supplied by the solution in the base year of study. This study uses 2014 as the base year due to the availability of global adoption data for all Project Drawdown solutions evaluated.