Novamont Increases MATER-BI® Production to 150,000 Tonnes

The increased production capacity (+36%) to be provided by the plant in Patrica, Lazio

NOVARA and PATRICA, Italy, Oct. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Following on from Terni, the Novamont group's historic site where the production capacity of MATER-BI® compostable bioplastics is 110,000 tonnes a year, in Patrica, in the province of Frosinone, Novamont has now started producing its compostable biopolymers in the Mater-Biopolymer plant. This will enable production capacity to be increased by 40,000 tonnes, in response to the strong growth in demand for biodegradable and compostable products.

As well as improving production efficiency and providing a rapid response to market demands, expansion of the Patrica site will also enable the group to diversify its production sites and ensure an ever greater range of products for different applications with an increasingly high content of renewable materials.

The production of MATER-BI® at Patrica will complement the current production of ORIGO–BI®, biopolyesters of renewable origin that are components of MATER-BI®.

The Mater-Biopolymer plant in Patrica, which directly employs 90 people, was built following redevelopment of the former Mossi & Ghisolfi PET plant and cost over 100 million euros in investment. Producing 100,000 tonnes of ORIGO–BI® annually, the new process has allowed the site to cut volumes by half compared to the previous "traditional" type of production, and to obtain products that have higher value and greater specificity.

Mater–Biopolymer is a highly efficient plant, at the same time satisfying quality, environmental and safety requirements. Its complex system of utilities minimise costs and waste through the recovery and reuse of waste, in terms of the circular economy and sustainability.

"Start-up of MATER-BI® production in the Mater-Biopolymer plant is a major achievement for our group and is the result of all the work we have carried out in recent years in innovating and industrialising our technologies," declared Catia Bastioli, managing director of Novamont. "This further step forward, just one year after inauguration of the second biopolyester production line, consolidates our model for local area regeneration and our integrated bioeconomy supply chain, which is based on new plants in deindustrialised sites, a wide range of bio-based products designed to safeguard soil and water, and behind which we have an important network of collaborations and interactions".

The Novamont Group is world leader in the development and production of bioplastics and biochemicals through the integration of chemistry, the environment and agriculture. With more than 600 employees, it registered a turnover of €238 million in 2018 and made continuous investments in research and development activities (5% of its turnover and more than 20% of its staff); it has a portfolio of around 1,800 patents. The group has its headquarters in Novara, a production facility in Terni and research laboratories in Novara, Terni and Piana di Monte Verna (CE). The Novamont subsidiaries are based in Bottrighe (RO), Patrica (FR) and Porto Torres (SS). Active in Germany, France and the United States through commercial offices and a representative office in Brussels (Belgium). Novamont operates through own distributors in more than 40 countries all over the world.

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Novamont Press Office
Francesca De Sanctis
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