Climate Change has provided the global community with new areas  for growth such as Green Economy which consists of various new emerging industries including Bio-Plastics Industry.

 

Global policies and lessons learned for Bio-Plastics Industry are mostly driven by the European Union (EU) and its member countries through various legislation and regulations on banning the use of fossil-based plastics since 2010. One of the key impactful policy is on the use on non-food based feedstock to ensure sustainable food security. This policy on the use of Bio-Plastics have created a huge market demand in the EU of approximately USD 390 billion per year primarily in the food packaging and electrical and electronics sectors.

 

This non-food based policy has naturally provided countries in the tropics with the opportunity to be part of the global industry ecosystem through the use of biomass based feedstock. Over the years, there have been extensive technology development in this area and have produced strategic platform technologies to produce downstream bio-based products to support local and export markets in tropical countries such as Malaysia.

 

Bio-Plastics Industry is one of the most inclusive industry development program as it involves contract farming by rural communities, technology and product development by anchor companies and contract manufacturing by Small and Medium Industries (SMEs) in more urban areas through Satellite Factories Program. Such a program can be elevated as one of the national flagships by Federal Governments, especially in the developing countries to drive growth towards shared and inclusive prosperity.