Carrot and stick approach draws bioplastic firms to Germany

The trade association said two foreign bioplastics companies have decided to construct production facilities in the country and the home grown chemicals giant BASF has laid out plans for a manufacturing plant to produce its own biodegradable material.

Bioplastic production takes root in Germany​

BASF will open its facility in Ludwigshafen in 2010 and once up and running the plant will increase the production of its ‘Ecoflex’ product from 14,000 to 74,000 tons per year.

One of the other firms to be investing in the German market is Australia-based Plantic, which makes biodegradable packaging from corn starch for cosmetics, personal care and food products.

Plantic has constructed a new manufacturing plant in Germany for €8.3m with the intention of expanding its presence in the European market.

Another firm to be putting down roots in Germany is Pyramid Bioplastics which is building a facility in Guben.

Operations at the factory, which will produce PLA with a capacity of 60,000 tons annually, will begin in the second half of 2009.

“We want to make an important contribution to the development of the bioplastics market with the construction of the first PLA facility in Germany,”​ said CEO Bernd Merzenich.

The company is also looking to continue its work on the development of new biopolymer applications in cooperation with the ‘Fraunhofer Institut for applied Polymer Research’.

​Incentives encourage investment​

Commenting on these developments in the German market European Bioplastics said research projects, investment grants and legal measures have all helped encourage investment.

The trade body said temporary exemption from the take-back obligations on compostable plastic packaging materials and the exemption from deposit obligations for certified disposable biopolymers support the establishment of specific recycling paths and promote market introduction.

European Bioplastics chairman Harald Keab said: “Such incentives help to overcome substantial innovation obstacles, which creates a positive investment climate,” ​

“We would also welcome similar initiatives on a European level and in the other member states.”​

By 2011, the association expects the global production capacities of bioplastics to quadruple to approximately 1.5 million tons annually.