IDTechEx’s diverse portfolio of sustainability reports covers topics from PFAS to bioplastics, and explores regulations and emerging technologies that combined highlight a growing global environmental awareness and the need for increased sustainability trends.
The PFAS problem
PFAS are a family of synthetic compounds, comprising thousands of chemicals. They can be distinguished by their fluorine content. Well-established application areas include pesticides, non-stick cookware, paints, and firefighting foams, with industrial applications including aviation, clean energy, and automotive.
PFAS chemicals can be found in drinking water, having traveled from industrial manufacturing sites and consumer products through many avenues to surface water sources and rain, eventually ending up in drinking water. PFAS contamination is a major concern because these types of chemicals are persistent and bio-accumulative; recent research shows that they can interact with the body’s natural processes. In Europe, there are at least 23,000 known sites where PFAS contamination occurs, and at least 1,245 known sites in the US, highlighting the global need for regulation.
Regulations and the EU Restriction Proposal
IDTechEx’s report, PFAS Treatment 2025-2035: Technologies, Regulations, Players, Applications, explores possibilities for regulations on PFAS within different sectors, focused mostly on drinking water. The US recently imposed a 4 ppt (parts per trillion) limit on two PFAS (PFOA and PFOS) in drinking water, while Canada regulates 25 individual PFAS in drinking water.
The EU’s Universal PFAS Restriction Proposal would see all PFAS manufacturing and distribution banned in the EU. However, time-limited exemptions for specific application areas, like semiconductor manufacturing, would prevent this regulation from impacting in the short term, with certain product types and manufacturing sectors not likely to see change for a few years, if at all. However, IDTechEx’s outlook for progress on this Restriction Proposal could potentially see an updated draft for the proposal being introduced in 2025. Developing such regulations highlights a sustainability-focused approach to the governance of many industries.
IDTechEx finds that while some PFAS alternatives are emerging, just needing to be mass-produced to feasibly act as replacements, other areas currently don’t have existing replacement options and therefore require more time before becoming strictly regulated. IDTechEx’s PFAS Treatment report goes into detail about various national and regional approaches to PFAS regulations and their impact on high-tech industries.
Bioplastics and the Circular Economy
Bioplastics are plastics that are produced from bio-based feedstocks. The term is sometimes used to describe biodegradability; however, this is an independent property. While certain plastics primarily made from biobased feedstocks, such as polylactic acid (PLA), are biodegradable, many key polymers that are widely used such as polyolefins (PE, PP, etc.) are not.
Bioplastics will be needed to sustainably supply the increasing demand for polymers without increasing the use of petroleum-based plastics. The carbon emissions of plastic production can be significantly reduced by using biobased feedstocks due to carbon sequestration in the polymer during production. In addition, certain biodegradable bioplastics will have an increasing role in the circular economy. Under the correct conditions, polymers such as PLA or PHAs can be composted to tackle the growing challenge of plastic waste.
The plastics industry and end-users of plastic, such as manufacturers of packaging and consumer goods as well as the automotive industry, and others, will need to take action to adopt bio-based plastics. IDTechEx describes four drivers for bio-plastic alternatives, including performance, application, sustainable motivation, and price, which can each be evaluated to determine whether a common petrochemical polymer should be substituted. With the growing range of drop-in replacement polymers on the market, price, and supply chain security are increasingly the largest barriers to adoption.
To promote the uptake of bioplastics, many countries have put in place incentives and mandates to meet ambitious targets to reduce the environmental impact of plastic usage. For example, China has introduced bans on non-biodegradable single-use plastics. Additionally, California has required all packaging to be either recyclable or compostable. Bioplastics will play a role in meeting the continuing demand for these plastics while meeting these regulatory challenges.
For more information on these reports, including downloadable sample pages, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Bioplastics and www.IDTechEx.com/PFAS.
For the full portfolio of sustainability market research available from IDTechEx, please see www.IDTechEx.com/Research/Sustainability.
