Bio-based articles are made from biomass, which is basically any organic matter. However, the sourcing determines what generation of biomass it is. 

First generation biomass comes from edible food crops like corn, wheat rice, sugar cane, and potatoes. Because the material source is edible food, it uses up food that human populations could be eating. It also increases the demand for crops that rely on intensive agriculture which is degenerative. However, this technology was developed first and is the most widely commercialized. 

Second generation biomass includes feedstocks that are not usable for human or animal food. It includes both non-food crops like wood and the inedible by-products of food crops like sugarcane bagasse. These materials are a lot more difficult to use to make bioplastics and are not widely produced yet. 

Third generation biomass feedstocks like algae and food waste are the most innovative and at the earliest stage of development. Feedstocks like algae can be grown on non-arable land and have a high potential for sequestering carbon. These feedstocks are still scaling and are not widely commercialized yet. 

Due to increased concern about potential issues including accelerated deforestation, biodiversity loss or the worsening of water shortages, the transition from first generation bio-based products to second-generation bio-based products has recently become a policy objective for the YATAY B innovators.