Bio-on teams with Italian potato giant on country’s first PHA plant

In Italy, Bio-on S.p.Aand Pizzoli S.p.A., Italy’s largest operator in the potato sector, will collaborate to build Italy’s first PHAs bioplastic production plant using waste product from the potato agro-industrial process.

The collaboration, signed by the two companies, arises from Bio-on’s laboratory research and Pizzoli’s experience in potato transformation, and aims to build a plant producing 2,000 ton/year of PHAs, expanding to 4,000 ton/year in the future. PHAs, or polyhydroxyalkanoates, are bioplastics that can replace a number of traditional plastics currently made with petrochemical processes using hydrocarbons. PHAs guarantee the same thermo-mechanical properties with the advantage of being completely naturally biodegradable.

Following an initial study phase to optimize the integration with existing structures and check economic compatibility, the project is set to be completed within approximately two years. The new plant will start production in 2017.