Sugarcane plays a significant role in the production of bioplastics. Through a process called biorefining, sugarcane is crushed to extract the juice, which is then fermented to produce ethanol. The ethanol is then converted into a variety of chemicals, including butanol, which can be used as a building block for the production of bioplastics.

Bioplastics are made from renewable, and compostable materials, such as polylactic acid (PLA), which can be produced from the sugars derived from sugarcane.