The increasing environmental concerns creating a shift toward environment-friendly chemicals and outcry for the fast-paced depletion of fossil fuel reserves are the major growth drivers for the global green chemicals market. Due to the aforementioned factors, the industry is projected to generate $22,039.0 million revenue in 2030, advancing at a CAGR of 8.9% during 2020–2030.
During COVID-19, chemical manufacturing facilities were highly impacted, which caused severe losses to manufacturers. Moreover, the lockdowns and other strict government regulations forced people inside their homes, which led to a reduced demand for personal care products, beverages, and bakery and frozen confectionary items. This is resulting in the reduced sales of green chemicals as a raw material, thereby negatively impacting the market players.
The green chemicals market is categorized into bioalcohols, biopolymers, biosolvents, organic acids, and others, based on product. Among these, the bioalcohols category dominated the market during the historical period (2015–2020), and it is expected to retain its dominance during the forecast period (2021–2030). This would be mainly because bioalcohols have a significantly lower production cost, due to the abundant availability of raw materials, which include food waste and crop residue (rice, wheat, barley, potato, corn, sugarcane, and oilseed crops).
Moreover, the market for green chemicals is categorized into food & beverages, personal care, packaging, automotive, agriculture, and others, based on application. Out of these, the personal care category is expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period. This will primarily be due to the fact that the demand for beauty and personal care products that are made of bio-based additives and ingredients, such as citric acid and amino acid, is rising in order to avoid the harmful effects of synthetic chemicals on the skin.
Geographically, the European region contributed the highest revenue to the global green chemicals market in 2020 on account of the growing environmental concerns in the region, which are resulting in a shift toward environment-friendly chemicals. Several sectors in the region, including packaging, automotive, food & beverages, and personal care, have witnessed an increase in the preference for green chemicals as an alternative to conventional petroleum-derived chemicals, to further support environmental sustainability efforts.
Players in the green chemicals industry are frequently getting involved in product launches to gain a significant position. For instance, in August 2020, Pon Pure Chemicals Group entered the retail segment with the launch of a range of eco-friendly and green chemistry products under its flagship brand, vooki. The product range includes floor and surface cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners, hard stain sprays and wipes, glass surface cleaners, disinfectants, and hand sanitizers.
Major players operating in the market for green chemicals are Arkema Group, BASF SE, Evonik Industries AG, GFBiochemicals Ltd., Koninklijke DSM N.V., Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Plantic Technologies Limited, Toray Industries Inc., Total Corbion PLA, and Vertec BioSolvents Inc.