The case of bioplastics illustrates how business models can play
a central role in linking producers and customers through the
development of new technologies and products. Faced with
growing environmental concerns from consumers and governments,
as well as unpredictable, high fossil fuel prices, many
established chemical companies have explored producing polymers
from renewable biomass feedstock such as corn and sugarcane.
Although the use of biomass to produce chemicals is not
novel, scientific advances over the last decade in industrial
biotechnology have diminished the costs of converting organic
material into platform chemicals that can supply most other
chemical manufacturing streams, such as polymers (Carole et al.,
2004). The European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry
estimates that up to 30 percent of raw materials for the
European chemical industry could come from renewable sources by
2025 (SusChem, 2005). Yet to date, biobased chemical production is
tiny compared to conventional chemicals. Further, although biobased
product lines could lessen the negative environmental and
social impacts associated with petroleum feedstock (O’Rourke and Connolly, 2003), they can still have significant impacts. Despite the
relatively rapid expansion of biobased chemicals in the 2000s, the
chemical sector continues to grapple with the implications of
switching to a new raw material.