Plastics

This article will delve into some of the key market drivers and technological developments shaping the future of advanced biofuels and e-fuels.

Antimicrobial and antiviral materials can be used to prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses on surfaces where they are most likely to be passed on. IDTechEx looks at over 100 companies that have developed their own antimicrobial technologies in their market research report.

Despite much investment and interest, some key questions surrounding sustainability and economic viability, as well as new regulatory pressures, are putting into question the future of this technology.

Thursday 10 October 2024 - An overview of bioplastics; How new Chinese regulations are transforming the industry; How other countries are approaching bioplastics regulations; The changing landscape of bioplastic applications; Why bio-composites using bioplastics are seeing increased interest and their challenges; IDTechEx's outlook and conclusions

IDTechEx outlines the competition Neuralink is facing from not only other invasive brain computer interface developers, but also from the more established eco-system of non-invasive solution providers.

The chemicals industry depends heavily on finite fossil fuel feedstocks and is responsible for 2% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. IDTechEx explores how captured CO2 could be utilized as a feedstock for hundreds of different chemicals instead, providing an economic and environmental incentive to capture carbon dioxide and create a circular economy.

IDTechEx explores the incumbent leather market and the motivations behind these emerging alternatives

The Chinese market has seen an explosion in the production capacity for PLA, a biodegradable bioplastic. One of the effects of this shift in the market is that between 2025 and 2035, IDTechEx has forecast that PLA will increase its market share quite significantly, with it expected to hold around 30% of the bioplastics installed capacity.

Carbon capture technologies capable of removing CO2 from industrial emissions have been around for over 50 years, but widescale deployment of CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage) has been too slow for global net-zero ambitions. While governments are beginning to implement carbon pricing mechanisms or tax credits to motivate permanent storage of CO2 deep underground, a profitable business model exists beyond CO2 sequestration via emerging CO2 utilization applications.

End-of-life equipment from automotives, electric vehicles, e-waste and decarbonized energy technologies are rapidly emerging secondary raw material sources for valuable critical materials. A new report from IDTechEx forecasts that US$110B of critical materials will be recovered annually from secondary sources by 2045, with a combined weight of over 3.3 million tonnes.