A fundamental breakthrough in Novamont’s range of biodegradable and compostable films for food packaging 5 years after the launch of the first grade of MATER-BI for cling film.
MATER-BI bioplastic cling film for the packaging of fresh produce can be used with most packaging machines.
Thus the choice of compostable cling film will no longer mean that specific packaging machines have to be purchased.
The film is suitable for food use and is intended to be used in the large-scale retail trade and large and medium-sized packaging centres.
It ensures good breathability, to provide fresh food with a long shelf life, high transparency, an anti-fog effect and good mechanical strength.
In addition to its technical properties, which are wholly competitive with traditional products on the market, MATER-BI cling film also has unparalleled environmental performance, thanks to the biodegradability and compostability of MATER-BI bioplastics.
At the end of their life these can be recycled with the organic fraction of waste, without giving rise to microplastics that would otherwise risk accumulating in the soil.
The test phase, carried out jointly with Crocco, one of the leading companies in the flexible packaging sector, has been successfully completed.
Novamont’s family of MATER-BI bioplastics, which are biodegradable and compostable according to UNI standard 13432, are obtained through using proprietary technologies in the field of starches, cellulose, vegetable oils and their combinations.
Using MATER-BI bioplastic solutions reduces the output of undifferentiated waste and everything related to it – landfill, soil and air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions – favouring the recovery of resources.
Once processed in industrial composting facilities, applications made of compostable bioplastic are converted with organic waste into humus, an excellent soil conditioner for combating desertification, thus closing the natural cycle in which there is no waste and everything again becomes a resource.
Novamont’s MATER-BI cling film will be showcased at BIOFACH 2020 (Hall 3A – Stand 521), the world’s largest organic trade fair, in Nuremberg from February 12 to 15, 2020.
Novamont is one of the world-leading groups in the development and production of bio-based and biodegradable bioplastics through the integration of chemistry, agriculture and the environment.
The main fields of application of the company’s biochemicals are packaging, separate organic waste collection, retail purchasing, disposable tableware, farming, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
The firm produced biodegradable tableware for the 2012 Olympic Games, was chosen by Co-op UK as the sole supplier of compostable shoppers and has already worked with local councils (including some London boroughs) engaged in the separate collection of bio-waste.
Other than the UK, Novamont has commercial offices in Germany, France and the United States and operates through its own distributors in 25 countries.
The company has its headquarters in Novara (near Milan), a portfolio of 1,800 patents, 600 employees in four production sites and two research centres in Italy and a global turnover of €238M (2018). Research & Development accounts for 5% of its revenues and 20% of its workforce.
Materials that can fully biodegrade in soil and water have been developed for those applications with a high risk of dispersion in the environment. Novamont is a Core Partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative aimed at rethinking plastics packaging systems globally.