Entitled ‘The Future of Bio-based Inks and Coatings to 2026, the Smithers report says that by the end of 2021, the market could be worth as much as $5.86bn, but with such a high level of demand for these solutions, this will only increase.

Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the market is expected to reach 7.90% over the next few years.

Smithers also found that packaging remains the largest market application in this segment, with bio-based flexo inks already using greener materials such as nitrocellulose.

“Parallel opportunities are also increasing in publications and graphics work, as corporate sustainability goals and government regulations expand to minimise the carbon impact of multiple business processes,” Smithers says.

“In these segments offset litho operators already have several bio-based options, such as soy-based newsprint inks.”

Smithers also highlighted non-petroleum solvents that can be used in printing inks, such as soybean, palm, sunflower, rapeseed, vegetable oils and or ethanol.

“Each will present their own technical challenges to match performance parameters, like quality and runnability, given by existing petroleum-derived solutions,” Smithers says.

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