Bio-on and S.E.C.I. S.p.A. to build a glycerol-to-PHAs facility

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Some months ago, Bio-on announced that it was ready to grant licenses for bioplastic plants using biodiesel by-products (BR Blog post: Bio-on ready to grant licenses of its glycerol-to-PHAs technology, July 19th 2015). Specifically, for plants transforming crude glycerol into high-performing polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). Bio-on was proposing one solution to the crude glycerol over-production problem and opening a way to integrate a bioplastic production process into the biodiesel industry.

As it was to be expected, the first answer to the announcement did not take long to appear. Bio-on and S.E.C.I. S.p.A. (Gruppo Industriale Maccaferri holding) signed an agreement on December 22th to erect the Italy's and world's first facility for the production of PHAs bioplastic from glycerol. The two companies will work together to build a plant with a 5,000 tons/year output, expandable to 10,000 tons/year. The facility will be located at an Eridania Sadam (S.E.C.I. group) site, it will require a 55 M€ investment from S.E.C.I. and it will need skilled personnel specialized in fermentation to produce the bioplastic.

Figure 1. Eridania Sadam agroindustrial site (extracted from Eridania Sadam web site)

According to the words of Massimo Maccaferri (Eridania Sadam Chairman), they are investing 4 million Euro in purchasing the license for this new technology developed by Bio-on because this all-natural bioplastic represents a technological challenge that can contribute towards the growth of their group in the new green chemistry industry. This collaboration is a further evidence to the direction the market is headed.

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