Plastics

Thursday 1 September 2022 - What is the value of bioplastics in a circular economy? What trends have shifted to drive bioplastic growth? What are the needs bioplastics must meet and pain points to solve? What is the outlook for bioplastics in the next decade?

As bioplastic materials transition from being a "nice-to-have" to materials with a very strong, viable business case, manufacturers are racing to keep up with demand. With all this activity, IDTechEx forecasts global annual bioplastics production capacity to grow at a CAGR of 10.1% over the next ten years.

One of the major environmental issues facing the planet today is the rising levels of plastic consumption and waste. As carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions also soar, the emerging carbon capture and utilization (CCU) industry propose a solution for both issues: creating lower-carbon, degradable polymers using CO2 emissions as the feedstock.

Virtual Reality (VR) headsets are edging toward becoming commonplace. However, social acceptability is still some way off and the user experience is not entirely comfortable. Essential to solving these problems are the lenses that magnify and focus headsets' displays.

The growth potential for AM materials differs from printing equipment, as operational legacy printers continue to consume materials. Therefore, this segment of the 3D printing value chain represents a tremendous opportunity.

Air quality concerns are on the rise globally, with urban pollution the dominant cause. However, radon accumulation and unpleasant aromas are often bigger problems in rural locations, creating opportunities for gas sensors that offer continuous monitoring and even odor categorization.

In 2022, hype around extended reality (XR) devices and the metaverse is at an all-time high, but hardware hurdles continue to hold back headset development.

As mitigating the effects of climate change becomes one of the world's top priorities, carbon dioxide utilization (CO2U) technologies have been set forth as part of the solution.

As electronics being increasingly ubiquitous, there is a clear trend toward greater integration. Rather than simply making space for a rigid 2D circuit board (PCB) within the product, electronic functionality will be either mounted conformally onto surfaces or incorporated within the structural materials.

While 3D electronics has long been used for adding antennas and simple conductive interconnects to the surface of 3D injection-molded plastic objects, more complex circuits are increasingly being added onto surfaces made from a variety of materials by utilizing new techniques.