Issue 04/2018

Events
Nature always finds the solution
Bio-on inaugurated first plant for the production of special PHA bioplastics
By Michael Thielen
Bio-on (Bologna, Italy), a company that describes itself
as an Intellectual Property Company (IPC) that supplies
technologies to produce or use Polyhydroxyalkanoates-
(PHAs) through licenses, officially inaugurated a production
plant of its own during a ceremony on June 20 th . The new plant
will produce PHB and PHBVV bioplastics for high added value
niche markets such as the microbeads used in the cosmetics
sector.
All PHA bioplastics developed by Bio-on under the brand
name Minerv are made from renewable plant sources
with no competition with food supply chains. They guarantee
the same thermo-mechanical properties as comparable
conventional plastics with the advantage of being 100% ecosustainable
and naturally biodegradable
The new plant is located in Castel San Pietro Terme, near
Bologna, Italy. The theme of the grand opening was “La natura
trova sempre la soluzione” (Nature always finds the solution).
In an impressive multimedia presentation, Bio-on’s
Chairman and CEO Marco Astorri first showed to the more
than 300 invited guests the shocking reality of marine
pollution caused by plastic waste. Video clips showed birds
on a picturesque Pacific atoll, dead from ingesting bottle tops
and other litter they had mistakenly thought to be food.
Astorri then showed a few ancient 1950s commercials and
the famous scene from “The Graduate”, in which plastics are
lauded as the material of the future, The further presentation
focused on the use of microbeads in cosmetics: an exemplary
case of plastic waste that is literally washed down the drain.
These microbeads, which serve as thickeners or stabilisers
in such widely used products as lipstick, lip gloss, mascara,
eye-liner, nail polish, creams, shampoo, foam bath and even
toothpaste, pollute the environment; once they are rinsed off
after use, they become a permanent part of the natural cycle:
they are swallowed by plankton in the rivers and seas and
thus enter the food chain, to ultimately end up on our plates.
The level of pollution is so serious that the USA was the
first country to bring in a law (Microbead-Free Waters Act
of 2015) banning the use of oil-based polymers in body care
products. Some countries, such as Canada, UK, Sweden and
France, recently followed suit while others, such as Ireland,
Netherlands, Italy, have announced they will do so, as stated
in Bio-on’s press release accompanying the inauguration.
This provided a convenient segue to introduce PHAs as a
family or platform of biobased and biodegradable polyesters
in general - and the Minerv PHAs which are to be produced in
the new plant, in particular. The first product to be produced
at the new plant will be Minerv Bio Cosmetics, the bioplastic
microbeads for cosmetics designed to replace the oil-based
and non-biodegradable plastic particles currently used
Using Minerv Bio Cosmetics bioplastic in cosmetics
products eliminates these pollutants because the micro
particles of bioplastic are naturally biodegradable in water
and, therefore, do not enter the food chain. What is more,
the biopolymer developed at the Bio-on laboratories actually
decomposes into a nutrient for some micro-organisms and
plants present in nature. The benefit for the environment is
therefore two-fold.
In his presentation Marco Astorri went on to introduce
Professor Jian Yu from the University of Hawaii in Manoa,
with whom Bio-on has been working for 10 years on
the development of their Minerv PHA products. And the
cooperation will continue. “We have big and (still) secret plans
for the future,” Marco Astorri said with a smile.
The new plant is located on a plot measuring some
30,000 m 2 ; it has 3,700 m 2 covered space and 6,000 m 2 land
for development. The current production capacity is 1,000
tonnes per year, rapidly expandable to 2,000 tonnes/a. The
plant, managed by Bio-on Plants, the division responsible
for production, future expansion and new plants, is equipped
with the very latest technologies and the most advanced
research laboratories. Here, over 20 researchers in the CNS
division (Cosmetic, Nanomedicine & Smart Materials) can
test new carbon sources from agricultural waste to produce
new types of biodegradable bioplastic and increase the
range of technologies offered by Bio-on. The company also
demonstrates its focus on sustainability in its choice of site,
opting to convert a former factory without occupying any new
land. The overall investment in the production hub and new
research laboratories is EUR 20 million.
“We are very pleased because since March 2017, when the
first stone was laid, we have kept to our schedule and kept
the promises we made to the market,” says Marco Astorri.
“Our technicians and partners have been incredibly reliable
throughout the process.”
“Like all complex industrial plants, the new production hub
is running a series of tests before becoming fully operational
in autumn. The entire production cycle is run from an
innovative control room at the heart of the plant,” explains
Riccardo Casoni, Bio-on Plants director, “and this is where
the entire industrial process will be tested before production
begins 24/7.
The new production hub is also the headquarters of the
Business Unit RAF (Recovery And Fermentation), which
develops and optimises bioplastic fermentation and extraction
processes to obtain the best possible product yield; and
CNS (Cosmetic, Nanomedicine & Smart Materials), which
uses cutting-edge scientific equipment to test new types of
bioplastic and develop new applications. The areas of operation
are Cosmetics, Nanomedicine, Biomedical, Nutraceuticals,
Bioremediation, Organic Electronics and Advanced Materials.
CNS laboratories are the base for over 20 researchers from
various parts of the world and many different scientific
disciplines, such as chemistry, physics, biology, pharmacy,
14 bioplastics MAGAZINE [04/18] Vol. 13