Adhesives make many environmentally friendly products possible: lightweight car bodies and batteries for electromobility, insulation glazing for facades and insulating panels as well as corrugated cardboard packaging or simple paper bags. Increasingly, however, not only the end products but also the adhesives themselves are to be "organic" – in fact, more than 13 million tonnes are already produced around the world each year, and this figure is rising. So far, conventional petrochemical plastic products have accounted for the largest share. However, Ceresana's latest market report predicts that adhesives made, at least in part, from renewable raw materials will grow significantly and global revenues will reach around USD 3.8 billion by 2032.

Better bonding with biobased adhesives

Even during the age of petroleum, natural adhesives were always superior to synthetic polymers in individual specialty applications. Such cases include starch adhesives for bottle labels, methyl cellulose in wallpaper paste, or collagen for musical instruments. Today, the dynamic development of biobased adhesives promises not only climate protection, a smaller ecological footprint and greater independence from crude oil and natural gas. Ideally, adhesives made from biogenic raw materials are also non-toxic, solvent-free and low-emission - not to mention biodegradable at the end of their life cycle. Health safety is not only an advantage for edible sugar craft glues for children. Over the next 10 years, demand for biobased adhesives is expected to increase significantly: Ceresana expects annual growth of more than 4% in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and just over 3% in Europe and North America.

Packaging industry as main customer

Biobased adhesives can often be obtained from previously unused waste and inexpensive by-products, for example from platform chemicals produced during the manufacture of biofuels from biomass. Meanwhile, plant and animal base materials can be modified with additives or copolymers to make them increasingly competitive in industrial adhesive applications. Intensive research into biobased adhesives is working on innovative functions, for example solid but reversible underwater adhesives modeled on mussel secretions. So far, however, the most important areas of application for biobased adhesives have been comparatively unspectacular: The largest individual markets are the paper and packaging, construction and wood processing sectors. In 2022, the paper and packaging application area alone accounted for more than one third of the revenues generated worldwide with biobased adhesives.

The current Ceresana market study “Biobased Adhesives”:

Chapter 1 of the new study provides a comprehensive presentation and analysis of the global market for biobased adhesives – including forecasts up to 2032: The development of both demand (tonnes) and revenues (USD and EUR) is outlined for each of the world regions of Western and Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.
In Chapter 2, the 16 countries with the largest sales of biobased adhesives are considered individually: Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Canada, Mexico, the USA, China, India, Japan and South Korea. Demand and revenues are shown in each case. In addition, revenues are broken down for the various application areas of adhesives: paper / packaging, construction industry, wood processing, and other applications.
Chapter 3 provides useful company profiles of the most important manufacturers of biobased adhesives, clearly arranged by contact details, revenues, profit, product range, production sites and brief profile. Detailed profiles are provided by 36 manufacturers. Further information about the new market study “Biobased Adhesives”: https://ceresana.com/en/produkt/biobased-adhesives-market-report


About Ceresana
As one of the world's leading market research institutes, Ceresana specializes in the chemicals, plastics, packaging, and industrial goods sectors. Special focus areas are bio-economy and automotive / mobility. Since 2002, companies have benefited from high-quality industry analyses and forecasts. Over 250 market studies provide more than 10,000 clients around the world with the knowledge base for sustainable success. More about Ceresana at www.ceresana.com