The age of cool biobased materials: a new positioning strategy

摘要

Bioplastics just celebrated their 25th jubilee. A rather sad celebration, as current market share does only represent 0,2% of the European thermoplastic and thermosetting market, despite large multinational involvement and consumer support. Own research on the reasons for this limited commercial success concluded on a failing positioning. Most bio-based materials are promoted on their properties, vegetable origin, end-of-life options and benefits for the environment. So far so good, except that suppliers always benchmark against conventional synthetic plastics. And when positioned as such, bio-based materials tend to fall short on price/performance ratio.