at the recent european bioplastics conference in brussels, association chairman françois de bie, said "the market is predicted to grow by more than 400 in the midterm".the results of the annual european bioplastics market data update compiled in cooperation with the ifbb institute for bioplastics and biocomposites university of applied sciences and arts hannover, germany and the novainstitute hürth, germany show that bioplastics production capacity is set to increase from around 1.6 million tonnes in 2013 to approximately 6.7 million tonnes by 2018. biobased, nonbiodegradable plastics, such as biobased pe and biobased pet, are gaining the most. pla is a major growth driver in the field of biobased and biodegradable plastics.furthermore, renewable and compostable plastics produced locally are likely to benefit from the new eu directive on the reduction of shopping bags. flexible and rigid packaging remains by far the leading application field for bioplastics.about 75 of bioplastics will be produced in asia by 2018 while europe at the forefront of research and development will be left with only roughly 8 of the production capacities, said de bie."we urge the eu legislators to consider and make efficient use of the immense environmental, economic growth and job creation potential of our industry. in this context, the circular economy package should remain in the commission&39s 2015 work programme and the waste target review should proceed as planned." 
