On the 16th March 2015, Italian Biotech firm Bio-on and Pizzoli, Italy’s largest operator in the potato sector, announced their intention to collaborate on an effort to create Italy’s first bioplastic production plant specialising in recycling waste products from potatoes.
Bio-on, who are already capable of producing bioplastics from sugar beet and sugar cane by-products, announced that the partnership with Pizzoli will allow them to expand into an entirely new field of renewable plastic production. Polyhydroxyalkanoates, or PHAs, are bioplastics that can be used in place of a number of traditional, environmentally damaging plastics
The two companies expect to begin production in 2017 and aim to build a plant capable of producing 2,000 tons of environmentally friendly plastic a year, expanding to 4,000 tons a year in the future.
Marco Astorri, Chairman of Bio-on, and Nicola Pizzoli, Chairman of Pizzoli, have both made statements expressing their enthusiasm towards the collaboration.
“The collaboration between Bio-on and Pizzoli adds a new “ingredient” to the construction of the Italian green chemical industry,” announced Astorri, “and it also enables us to broaden the number of raw materials from which PHAs can be made using Bio-on technology.
“We will begin with a €220 thousand investment for the feasibility study,” Pizzoli went on to explain, “but the real challenge will lie with future investments in an integrated industrial facility, serving the food sector and with zero environmental impact.”
With two companies that possess both the power and the dedication to bring about change working towards creating more environmentally friendly plastic alternatives, this is undoubtedly good news for a greener Italy.
By Reece Wilding
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