PJL-44

More bioplastics, less plastic: The World of Mater-Bi®

More differential waste collection, less waste; more environmental education, less pollution; more sustainable development projects, less dispersion of cash... An equation of words that yields a brighter, uncompromised future.Can technology support these needs? Novamont’s answer is Mater-Bi®

Perini Journal


Speaking about environmental pollution today has become as usual as talking about the weather. The true difficulty lies in finding concrete and technologically suitable solutions capable of diminishing the polluting effects of our way of living.
Waste disposal is a very relevant issue when speaking about environmental pollution.
We are surrounded by disposable products that continue mushrooming.
Differentiated waste collection is certainly a valid instrument to combat the waste problem, but we must also find technological solutions for sustainable development, i.e., for economic activities to grow while safeguarding the environment.
Mater-Bi® is an answer to the problem of waste that our planet is experiencing and surely constitutes a successful project in sustainable development. This term encompasses an innovative family of bioplastics produced using plant components such as corn starch and biodegradable polymers obtained from renewable and fossil raw materials.

 

MATER-BI® IS A TRADEMARK PATENTED BY NOVAMONT, HISTORICAL ITALIAN COMPANY WORKING IN THE CHEMICAL FIELD. The fields of application are many, from packaging to retailing, from hygiene to agriculture.
The different types of Mater-Bi® all have very similar - if not superior - characteristics to plastic but at the same time they are biodegradable and compostable. They can be recycled together with organic waste, without having to separate the contents, thus optimizing differentiated waste collection and reducing environmental impact.
Originally in the form of granules, the product is processed using the same technologies used for treating traditional plastic materials. Different biopolymer lines are produced following different process techniques because Mater-Bi® is an extremely flexible material that allows a customized production based on the different uses to be made of it and different customer demands.

 

BORN IN 1990, THE INITIAL PRODUCTION OF MATER-BI® OF 4,000 TONS PER YEAR doubled by 1997 and quadrupled by 2001. Today, the facilities located in Terni can produce 60,000 tons of Mater-Bi®.
Many companies use products manufactured using Mater-Bi®. An excellent example is Grom, a company from the Italian region of Piedmont that produces artisan gelato. Renowned for its research into the best raw materials to produce its gelato, Grom has made the philosophy of using natural products its cornerstone. In recent years, it has worked with Novamont to reduce the “environmental impact” of artisan gelato.
Planet Earth has the best in this profitable collaboration because useless waste typical of ice cream production are avoided (container cups, spoons and straws).
And if we want to speak about numbers, by using Mater-Bi®, Grom prevents 12 million pieces of plastic objects from being left behind as waste because only corn, wheat and potato starch are used!

 

AND THE TISSUE FIELD IS NOT JUST STANDING BY LOOKING IN, but is actually becoming a protagonist in the world of Mater-Bi®. Already back in 1997 Cartiera Lucchese - today Lucart Group - introduced Ecolucart, a tissue product line packaged using Mater-Bi® film.There are many other examples of companies collaborating with Novamont and choosing Mater-Bi® to be in-line with market demands and at the same time safeguard the environment!
The raw materials of agricultural origin that compose Mater-Bi® return to the earth through the biodegradation processes with no release of polluting substances. In this way, the environment becomes the means through which new economic systems can develop.

 

 

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