'Huge potential' in bioplastics

The Wall Street Journal tackled bioplastics as part of a special report on the environment today. The story offers a decent overview on bioplastics for Plastics Blog readers who need some help getting their arms around the topic -- which, understandably, has generated a lot of headlines in the past couple of years. The story asserts that while bioplastics currently make up just 0.2 percent of the 350 million metric tons of plastics consumed annually, the volume could jump 30 percent annually over the next 10 years. That growth will depend on continued and growing interest by consumer product companies, which are using bio-based resins in packaging and some products. It will also depend on the price of natural gas and oil, because bio-based materials tend to be more competitive with conventional plastics when the cost of energy is high. The WSJ report also includes a nice slide show of products made from bioplastics, including packaging, foodservice and durable products.