Renewable source materials are raw materials that are bio-based, or plant-derived, and can be measured through carbon-14 (C14). These materials that can be replenished quicker than the lifetime of the product. In using them, manufacturers become less reliant on fossil-based materials that take thousands of years to develop and decrease how much they deplete these finite natural resources.

Sixty-four percent of respondents report currently using renewable source materials, with another 21% intending to start within the next three years.

France, Spain and Brazil are particularly high-adopters of renewables, with 86% of French respondents, 78% of Spanish respondents, and 72% of Brazilian respondents reporting their use.

Customer/consumer demand is by far the most influential factor pushing companies toward renewables, with over a third of those who currently use renewable source materials (34%) naming it as the primary driver of their use. Another 26% called environmental impact the top driver. Competitive advantage was a distant third, as the chief motivator of 12% of renewable source users.

The full benefit of renewable source materials on environmental and competitive factors becomes clear when looking at all of the added value renewables offer. Environmental impact and competitive advantage were each selected by more than half of respondents when they were given the option to share multiple advantages of renewable source use. 

Pricing remains a major issue for companies using renewable source materials, with half of respondents (50%) naming it as the top challenge to pursuing this type of sustainable sourcing. Cost challenges were especially prominent in France, with nearly 80% of respondents naming price as their primary challenge. 

Functionality and availability are also areas of concern, with 20% and 17% of respondents naming these areas as their chief challenges, respectively.  

In addition, a final challenge that cannot be overlooked is the use of renewable sources for food and chemical production simultaneously. This could be a conflict and there must be an important balance between the production of renewable chemicals and food security.

A number of factors keep organisations from adopting renewable source materials. Forty-four percent of those who intend to use these materials but have not started using them yet cited a lack of good alternatives for their industries as a contributing factor. This is a chief concern across a number of sustainable categories.  

However, this lack of alternatives is far from the only barrier that keeps more companies from switching to renewable source materials. Thirty percent of respondents felt that the price point of renewable materials exceeded their budgets. Twenty-four percent felt available materials did not perform technically as needed.

“In order to reach the 36% of companies not using renewable source materials today, the materials need to become more competitive with the current fossil-based option,” reflects Helene Coulange, Industrial Solutions Key Account & Product Manager, IMCD France. “At IMCD, we work closely with our customers to understand their budget and take their needs to our suppliers to help bridge the gap in the market needs. Over time, we will hopefully meet more and more in the middle, making renewable source materials the materials of choice.”

Customer and consumer demand, while often a driver of sustainability practices, is not felt equally by all companies: 22% of respondents included lack of customer/consumer demand as a reason that their organisations have not adopted renewable source materials.  

Those who are not yet using renewable source materials but intend to in the near future most commonly cite the same motivations as the organisations that are already using these materials: customer/consumer demand (42%), environmental impact (20%), and competitive advantage (16%). 

While similar proportions of respondents in the Americas and EMEA report using renewable source materials or planning to implement them in the next three years, their primary drivers diverge. Respondents in EMEA were more than twice as likely as those in the Americas to report customer/consumer demand as a driving force in their use of renewables (42% compared to 20%). Those in the Americas were more likely to call competitive advantage, regulatory compliance, or technical advantage the primary driver behind the adoption of renewable source materials.   Note: respondents could choose only one answer

When looking across all value added by renewables, competitive advantage is a more relevant factor, with 52% of those in the Americas and 46% in EMEA calling it a value-add. Environmental impact is the most-named added value by EMEA respondents (60%), while only 45% of respondents from the Americas included it as an added value. 

When asked about their main challenges with renewable source materials, companies in the Americas report slightly more issues with pricing, availability and regulations, whereas EMEA businesses are more likely to report problems with documentation and functionality.  

While the lack of good alternatives was a similar barrier in both the Americas and EMEA, other barriers differed. Respondents from the Americas were significantly more likely to cite price as a reason they have not yet introduced renewables (38%) compared to those in EMEA (23%). Additionally, 19% of those in the Americas who hope to add renewables in the next three years said that they did not know which materials to use, compared to just 7% in EMEA. 

In contrast, 30% of EMEA respondents said that technical performance was a barrier to bringing on renewable source materials, compared to 14% in the Americas. 

About two-thirds of respondents from companies with more than 100 employees are currently working with renewable source materials. Companies with fewer than 100 employees report lagging slightly behind, with only 62% of respondents reporting the use of renewable source materials. 

While companies of this size report pricing, functionality and availability as major challenges of using renewables, these challenges are similarly cited by larger businesses. 

Within the world of chemical intermediates, there is great interest in renewable source alternatives to monomers and building blocks. Considering they make up the primary part of the formulas we see every day, this shows a promising future for renewable source material adoption. 

Customer demand is the paramount driver of renewables use in the chemical intermediates sector. Forty percent cite this as the primary reason for introducing renewables, more than in any other industrial sector. The number was especially high for resin and polymer producers, with 58% calling it their primary driver in this area. 

When asked to identify as a beginner, intermediate, or expert on the topic of renewable source materials, just over half of respondents chose intermediate. Twenty-one percent felt they were beginners, and 23% called themselves experts. Clearly, there is plenty of room for growth and education in this area. 

Nearly half of those who intend to adopt renewables report a lack of good alternatives in their industry. More innovation is needed to develop, bring to market and promote quality materials that have similar functionality to the predominant, fossil-based alternatives. 

When asked to rank the eight industrial sustainability priorities based on their potential to drive change in the next few years, 35% predicted that renewable source materials will be most impactful. This was more than for any of the other sustainable priorities.  

Research and development professionals were especially likely to believe that renewable source materials will be the most impactful sustainability trend, with 42% ranking renewables first. 

People with more than a decade of industry experience also showed a strong belief in the power of renewables, with 42% predicting renewables will be most impactful, compared to 22% of those with less than a decade of experience.