TAIF and Bio-on to build first bioplastic factory in Russia
In the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, TAIF and Bio-on have signed an agreement to build the first bioplastic factory in Russia
TAIF JSC and Bio-on S.p.A from Italy signed an agreement on a joint bioplastic factory project in the presence of Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of Italy Giuseppe Conte in Moscow on 24 October.
Thanks to the agreement, the first bioplastic factory will be built in the Republic of Tatarstan – it's polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) made from the by-product of sugar beet used for sugar production. The installed capacity of the factory is 10,000 tonnes a year. It's planned to expand the capacity to 20,000 tonnes. The project is estimated at about €90m.
The agreement is a milestone for us, noted President and Chief Executive Officer at Bio-on Marco Astorri. According to him, it's a result of long work and difficult talks, which began in 2017. The signing of the first contract with the prestigious industrial group, which is a leader in plastics, proves the big value of our technology and provides further consolidation of the position of bioplastics in the market, which is nowadays the only real alternative to solve the ecological problem caused by traditional plastics.
The bioplastic is projected to be used in both traditional areas and advanced high-tech segments of the market.
Vittorio Folla, general manager of Bio-on who took part in the talks with TAIF JSC, says they are glad about the result they've got. It allows to consolidate the success of our technology in international markets and continue our licensing, which began in 2015, stimulate the creation of new production capacities that are able to meet growing demands for PHAs in different segments of the market.
''It's important for us to start the noble path in green chemistry,'' Director General of TAIF JSC Albert Shigabutdinov added. ''We think that biodegradable polymers can effectively lead to a gradual reduction in environmental pollution. Biopolymers can't completely substitute traditional polymers in the short run due to production volumes. But we think the implementation of green factories, that's to say, ecologically safe, in highly effective segments of the market can help to create new opportunities in plastics production.
Reference
Bio-on S.p.A. is an Italian intellectual property company manufacturing bioplastics. It does applied research and develops modern bio-fermentation technologies with ecologically sustainable and completely natural biodegradable materials. Bio-On particularly works on application to industrial sectors by creating characteristics of a product, components and plastics. Since February 2015, Bio-OnS.p.A has also been creating natural and sustainable chemical substances of the future.
Bio-on created an exclusive production of a family of polymers called PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates) from agricultural wastes (including molasses, sugar cane syrup and sugar beet). The bioplastic derived this way is able to substitute major families of traditional plastics from a perspective of profitability, thermomechanical properties and universality. Bio-on's PHA is a bioplastic that can be classified as 100% organic and completely biodegradable. It was certified by Wincott and the US Department of Agriculture. The licensee's strategy presupposes licensing PHA production and ancillary services, R&D (through cooperation with universities, research centres and industrial partners) and construction of industrial enterprises developed by Bio-on.