G7 Environment: all grades of Novamont MATER-BI bioplastic will be 40% to 100% bio-based by end of 2017

 
Novara - Bologna, 14 June 2017 – At the G7 environmental summit in Bologna this past weekend, Novamont has announced it has taken a unilateral decision to introduce a 40% minimum threshold for bio-based content in all of its MATER-BI bioplastics, helping reduce CO2 emissions by an annual equivalent of 75,000 city cars from the streets of our cities. More environmentally sustainable products with a renewable raw material content of up to 100% for specific applications will be made available and will be certified through the Kyoto Club e-label! environmental multi-label.
 
This milestone was achieved thanks to over 700 million Euros invested by the company in unprecedented proprietary technology, the regeneration of decommissioned industrial sites and the creation of new jobs in the past twenty years. MATER-BI bioplastics now incorporate monomers from renewable sources produced in Novamont biorefineries.
 
The company is bringing forward the targets of Italy and France for bio-based content for certain applications (e.g. fruit and vegetable bags), for which a minimum threshold of 40% will be established from 2018.
 
These products have been optimised from an environmental perspective in view of the pressing need to minimise risks to natural capital and in particular to water, soil and air, thereby creating new opportunities for soil regeneration.
 
"This decision to voluntarily raise renewable content levels across our entire range of MATER-BI bioplastics goes hand in hand with that taken many years ago to only use these bioplastics for applications which make a contribution to the system. In particular we are aiming to improve and intercept a greater quantity of organic waste. The goal is to facilitate a recycling system which minimises the waste of organic matter, which is so fundamental for the soil, and maximise the possibility of recovering traditional plastics. This is part of the circular economy model in which we must define the most useful purposes for the various flows and collaborate with various stakeholders in new ways to achieve three fundamental objectives: new local economic growth in the sector, social inclusion and the regeneration of local natural capital. Only in this way will it be possible to eliminate plastic pollution in our waters, which is 80% caused by non-virtuous behaviour on land," explained Novamont’s CEO Catia Bastioli.
 
The announcement was made at the Italo-French initiative 'STOP PLASTIC WASTE - COALITION EVENT'.
 
MATER-BI, the bioplastic developed by Novamont, is biodegradable and compostable in compliance with the leading international standards. It is now capable of guaranteeing performance equivalent to traditional plastics while incorporating interesting new properties. It contains renewable resources of controlled agricultural origin and certain grades are also certified through the e-Label! environmental multi-label. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions and cuts consumption of non-renewable energy and resources, completing a virtuous circle: raw materials of agricultural origin are returned to the earth, nourishing it through biodegradation or composting.
   
Novamont is the world leading group in the development and production of bio-based and biodegradable bioplastics through the integration of chemistry, agriculture and the environment. The company’s key applications include packaging, organic waste collection, retail carrier and produce bags, disposable tableware and agricultural mulch film. Cutlery, plates and cups used for the 2012 London Olympics were made of Novamont’s Mater-Bi®, a bioplastic fully compostable according to EU standard EN 13432. The company partners with a network of cities comprising Geneva, Milan, New York, Paris, San Francisco and Vienna engaged in the separate collection of bio-waste. Novamont has a portfolio of over 1,000 patents, 600 staff and a global turnover of €170M (2015). It has its headquarters in Italy, foreign seats in Germany, France and the United States and operates through its own distributors in Benelux, Scandinavia, UK, China, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The company is a Core Partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative designed to solve the plastic packaging problem globally.
 
 
 
For further information: 
Andrea Giannotti (Mr.)
Director Protagoras PR
On behalf of NOVAMONT
+44 7825 892 640
giannotti@protagoras.co.uk