Dr Jen Vanderhoven, COO of the Biobased and Biodegradable Industries Association (BBIA), discusses ‘bio-better materials’ – the next-generation of biology-derived substances.
In the face of escalating climate change, resource depletion, and soaring demand for sustainable alternatives, the chemical industry stands at a crossroads. Petrochemistry, the bedrock of modern materials, has delivered remarkable progress over the past century. But it has also locked us into fossil dependence, and a linear take–make–dispose model that the planet can no longer afford.
For the past two decades, the concept of green chemistry has been a powerful driver of reform, delivering cleaner processes, safer ingredients, and significantly reduced environmental footprints. These advances have laid the foundation for today’s transition, proving that chemistry can evolve toward more responsible models. Yet, many of these innovations have focused on minimising harm rather than maximising benefit. A bio-based polymer that is simply ‘less harmful’ than conventional plastic is an important step forward, but the real opportunity lies in going further, creating materials that are not only sustainable, but also more cost effective, higher performing, and easier to scale.
Now, a new paradigm is emerging: bio-better materials. These next-generation, biology-derived substances don’t just aim to match fossil-based equivalents, they are being designed to surpass them in functionality, safety, and circularity. This is chemistry reimagined, not as an act of substitution, but as an act of innovation. And to succeed, it must balance three forces: cost, performance, and sustainability.
Why sustainability alone isn’t enough
The transition to a circular economy is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century, and the global chemicals sector sits at its heart. The industry is responsible for nearly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions and underpins everything from packaging to construction, electronics to pharmaceuticals.
While sustainability is vital, many bio-based innovations to date have been framed as drop-in replacements: swapping a fossil-derived feedstock or ingredient with a bio-based equivalent, while keeping the same molecular structure and functionality. This reduces carbon footprint, but it also preserves the fossil-logic of chemistry, optimised for availability of oil, not for environmental or performance outcomes. For this reason, bio-based versions often struggle to compete on cost and performance. However, without a compelling functional edge, uptake remains limited.
To truly transform, the sector must go beyond substitution and instead of asking biology to mimic petrochemistry, we should be asking ‘what would chemistry look like if we started with biology?’.
Performance as the decisive factor
For decades, the implicit trade-off has been that bio-based versions of their fossil incumbents equates to being more sustainable, but potentially with performance issues. However, that assumption is now being pulled apart. Today, biology offers a toolkit of enzymes, microbes, and metabolic pathways that can be engineered to produce not just copies of existing molecules, but entirely new ones. These materials are inherently more compatible with biological systems and capable of outperforming legacy fossil-based incumbents.
Performance is the critical factor in adoption. A ‘green’ material that costs more and works less well rarely survives beyond pilot scale. By contrast, a bio-better material that is stronger, lighter, safer, or more versatile creates its own demand, regardless of origin. Sustainability then becomes an embedded advantage, not the sole selling point.
For example, polyethylene furanoate (PEF), derived from plant sugars, has far superior gas barrier properties than PET, making bottles that keep drinks fizzier for longer while being fully recyclable.1 Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), produced by microbes, combine tuneable biodegradability with mechanical strength, enabling applications from packaging to medical implants.2 Advanced polylactic acid (PLA) blends can withstand heat up to 110°C, outpacing conventional PS and PET in thermal resistance.3 These are not compromises, they are advancements. They demonstrate that sustainability does not come at the expense of performance but rather enhances and amplifies it.
Cost: The relentless pressure point
Even with superior performance, cost remains a critical barrier. Fossil-based chemicals and materials have benefited from decades of funding developing infrastructure in oil refineries, processes that have been developed to be super-efficient and economies of scale of the huge global volumes required.
Bio-based chemicals and materials, by contrast, often emerge from smaller-scale fermentation or enzymatic processes, struggling to achieve cost parity. Despite major advances in synthetic biology and strain engineering, the economics of large-scale biomanufacturing remain uncompetitive with fossil-derived production, particularly for bulk chemicals, fuels, and materials. Most fermentation infrastructure is optimised for high-value, low-volume products, not for the ultra-efficient, high-throughput systems needed to compete in commodity markets. In addition, steam sterilisation, low yields, and complex extraction processes can mean that the carbon footprint of some bio-chemicals is higher than expected.
Yet, the economics are shifting. Metabolic efficiency, fewer process steps, and lower purification needs can make bio-production more competitive as innovative technologies mature. Moreover, volatile fossil markets, carbon pricing, and regulatory changes are beginning to tilt the scales.
Demand for sustainability with circularity built in
Beyond performance and cost, bio-better materials are being designed with end-of-life in mind, something petrochemistry rarely considered. For example, instead of persisting for centuries, many of these new materials can now break down safely in industrial or home composting and return carbon to soil or produce biomethane.
The global market for bio-based polymers is expanding quickly. According to Nova-Institute, it grew from 4.5 million tonnes in 2022 to over 6.5 million tonnes in 2024, with packaging, textiles, and automotive leading the way.4
However, barriers for the bio-based chemicals and materials sector still exist. For example, fossil incumbents still benefit from scale and subsidy, sourcing biomass without land-use conflict is complex, and confusion persists around definitions of ‘biodegradable’, ‘compostable’, and ‘bio-based’.
However, with the right policy support, bio-better materials can compete head-to-head with petrochemicals, not just on ethics, but on economics.
The rise of bio-better materials challenges us to stop asking how we can replicate petrochemistry and start asking how we can surpass it. By balancing cost, performance, and sustainability, and by placing performance at the centre of the value proposition, bio-based chemistry can unlock a new era of materials that are not only greener, but genuinely better.
The tools of engineering biology, green chemistry, and circular design are converging to give us a chance to redesign the chemicals and material foundations of society.
Ultimately, bio-better materials represent more than a technical upgrade, they herald a new industrial revolution. If the 20th century was defined by cracking hydrocarbons, the 21st may be defined by engineering biology: fermenters instead of refineries, enzymes instead of crackers, and molecules designed to regenerate ecosystems rather than pollute them.
References
1 . New bio-based polymer PEF shows low CO2 footprint – Renewable Carbon News
- Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) synthesis and degradation by microbes and applications towards a circular economy – ScienceDirect
- The Development of Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)-Based Blends and Modification Strategies: Methods of Improving Key Properties towards Technical Applications—Review – PMC
- Global Bio-Based Polymer Market to Grow 13% Annually Through 2029, Led by Asia and North America – Renewable Carbon News
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