In the industry, the terms biodegradable and biobased are confused by customers; although they are part of the same group of plastics, they are chemically different. A bioplastic can have one of the characteristics but also a combination of both (being biodegradable and bio-based).

A biodegradable plastic is a polymer which under the optimum environmental circumstances will degrade into natural elements such as water and carbon dioxide. Even fossil based bioplastics such as PBAT and PCL are considered a bioplastic, as they are able to degrade under the right circumstances.

A bio-based material means that the basis of the polymer consists, either in whole or partial, of a natural source (biomass); common examples are cellulose, corn starch or sugar cane. Even the most commodity polymers such as PE and PP can be made from biobased material (bioethanol) and thereby are included in the bio-based polymer family, yet are not biodegradable.