The thermoplastic starch (TPS) market has witnessed significant growth over the past few years owing to the growing use of TPS in different applications such as food packaging, textiles, and paper coatings among others. TPS offers properties similar to oil-based plastics while being a renewable and biodegradable material. With increasing consumer awareness about environmentally friendly products, TPS has emerged as a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based plastics. TPS can be easily processed using existing plastics processing equipment and provides good moisture and grease resistance properties suitable for food packaging applications such as films, trays, andcups.

The Global Thermoplastic Starch (TPS) Market is estimated to be valued at US$ 268.89 Billion in 2024 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 9.6% over the forecast period 2024 To 2031.

Key Takeaways

Key players operating in the Thermoplastic Starch (TPS) market are Access Scanning Document Services, LLC, Ripcord, Inc., Armstrong Archives, LLC, Chicago Records Management Inc., Cube Records Management Services, The Scanning Company, Smooth Solutions Inc., VENSO Technologies, Shoreline Records Management, Inc., Pearl Scan, iGuana, Cleardata UK Ltd., KnowledgeLake, Microimage Technologies Limited, ScanWorld Station Limited, The Apache Software Foundation, Advanced Data Solutions, Inc., Blue-Pencil Information Security Inc., Iron Mountain Inc., Flatworld Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Royal Imaging, Pacific Records Management, DataGuard USA (Record Nations), Scanning America Inc.

The global Thermoplastic Starch Market Share is primarily driven by the growing demand from the food packaging industry, especially for packaging of fruits, vegetables, bakery, snack foods, and confectionery products. The increasing popularity of biodegradable and compostable packaging solutions is a major factor fueling the demand for thermoplastic starch in food packaging applications.

Advancements in thermoplastic starch production technologies by major players has enabled mass production of high-quality TPS resins, films, and molded products. Emerging technologies enable modifying TPS properties for a wider range of end-use applications. Continuous R&D is expanding the usefulness of this bio-based material.

Market Trends

Sustainable packaging solutions - Brand owners and consumers are increasingly preferring sustainable and eco-friendly packaging materials. Thermoplastic starch works as a perfect natural substitute for petroleum-based plastics in food packaging and other applications. This growing trend works in favor of increasing TPS adoption.

Advanced production technologies - Major TPS producers are continuously investing in advanced production facilities and new technologies to enhance TPS product properties. New production methods help achieve customized performance specifications needed for different applications.

Market Opportunities

Textiles - Thermoplastic starch when blended with other polymers shows promising potential as a sustainable material for textile and non-woven fabric production. Ongoing research is exploring various textile applications of TPS.

Biomedical applications - Thermoplastics starch possesses properties like biocompatibility making it suitable for biomedical applications like sutures, implants, tissue engineering scaffolds. The medical device industry presents new avenues for TPS.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the growth of the Thermoplastic Starch (TPS) market. Some key impacts include:

The pandemic led to lockdowns and restrictions across countries which disrupted global supply chains and hampered the production and transportation of TPS materials. Many key producing nations like China, Indonesia, Thailand imposed restrictions on exports during lockdowns negatively impacting raw material availability for various end-use industries relying on TPS. This led to decline in demand from packaging, textile, food and beverage industries in 2020. However, growing usage of TPS for protective equipment like masks and gloves saw some demand growth from pharmaceutical industry offsetting losses from other sectors.

Post lockdowns, as economic activities resumed, demand from packaging industries rebounded the fastest to cater to surge in e-commerce shipments. Also, restrictions in the use of fossil fuel based plastics triggered shift towards more sustainable TPS based alternatives. This demand recovery helped offset some pandemic losses over the subsequent years though supply chain bottlenecks persisted impacting overall market growth projections.

Going forward, market players are focusing on expanding production capacities in multiple regions, improving supply chain resilience and diversifying raw material sourcing. Collaboration with raw material providers and end customers to maintain consistent supplies will also be crucial for sustaining recovery momentum, mitigating future disruptions and realizing long term projected growth rates for this market over the forecast period.

In terms of value contribution, the Thermoplastic Starch (TPS) market was highly concentrated in North America and Western Europe pre-pandemic driven by stringent regulations on plastics and higher sustainability awareness. However, post pandemic the Asia Pacific region has emerged as the fastest growing market for TPS on back of accelerating shift towards biodegradable alternatives in packaging industries across China, India, Indonesia and other developing Asian countries for mitigating environmental impact.

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