This article examines the bioplastic businesses of three major
chemical companies to understand how firms are devising business
models to address the challenges of making the business case for
bioplastics and addressing sustainability. We contend that
companies are most able to develop business models that bring
bioplastics to market in a sustainable fashion when they mobilize
their “dynamic capabilities” (Teece, 2007). After discussing business
models for sustainability and the dynamic capabilities
framework, we contextualize the emergence of the bioplastic
industry within the trajectory of the traditional plastics production
system. BASF, DuPont, and Braskem are multi-national incumbents
and possess significant resources while continuing to thrive in their
conventional plastics businesses. These companies, however,
diverge in how they have mobilized their dynamic capabilities, thus
making the role of such capabilities in adapting business strategies
clearer. By evaluating how firm-level dynamic capabilities inform
business models for sustainable innovation, researchers can gain
rich insight into the nature and impacts of business models in
advancing industrial sustainability.