By Simeon Goldstein

Growth in biodegradable packaging will help boost the global renewable chemicals market by almost a third to $59bn in the next five years, according to US researchers.

 

Market research firm MarketsandMarkets' new report into the Global chemicals market suggests the move to decouple economic growth from using non-renewable resources will help grow the sector from $45bn in 2009 to $59.1bn in 2014.

 

Packaging is one of the key uses for renewable chemicals and the biopolymer market has the potential to grow at around 22% a year.

 

"The market is driven by the increasing demand from the food packaging industry, biodegradable and compostable plastics and other consumer products," the firm said in a statement.

 

Europe and North America will remain the largest markets and account for around 35% and 30% of total revenues, respectively. However, there are immense opportunities for renewable chemicals in Japan, India, China and Russia.

 

"Government support and initiatives to encourage the use of renewable chemicals is expected to provide the necessary boost to the market in these economies," MarketsandMarkets said.

 

The report looks at a wide range of applications for renewable chemicals from a range of sources including starch, cellulose and animal biomass.