NOVARA, Italy — 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 means that finite resources will not be wasted on products with a short life span. They will also reduce the output of undifferentiated waste and everything related to it – landfill, soil and air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions – favouring the recovery of resources which, once processed in the industrial composting process, will be converted into humus, an excellent soil conditioner for combating soil desertification, thus closing the natural cycle in which there is no waste and everything again becomes a resource.
Novamont’s MATER-BI cling film is a response totally in line with Italian thinking in terms of the environment and safeguarding the Planet, as became apparent in the survey conducted by Nielsen, presented at MARCA 2020 in Bologna last January. According to the survey, 85% of the country’s purchasing managers say they purchase environmentally friendly brands and products, even if this means spending a little more. 75% consider paying more for a product just because it or its packaging is environmentally sustainable (73%), and 64% expect the use of non-recyclable plastic in packaging to fall.
Novamont’s MATER-BI cling film will be showcased at BIOFACH 2020, the world’s largest organic trade fair, in Nuremberg from February 12 to 15, 2020.
BIOFACH 2020 – Hall 3A – Stand 521
The Novamont group is a leader in the development and production of bioplastics and the development of biochemicals and bioproducts through the integration of chemistry, environment and agriculture. With more than 600 people, it registered a turnover of about €238 million in 2018 and made constant investments in research and development (5% of its turnover, more than 20% of its staff); it holds about 1,800 patents and patent applications. It is based in Novara, production plant in Terni and research laboratories in Novara and Piana di Monte Verna (CE). It operates through its subsidiaries in Bottrighe (RO), Patrica (FR) and Porto Torres (SS). It is active internationally with offices in Germany, France and the United States and a representative office in Brussels (Belgium). It is present through its own distributors in over 40 countries on all continents.
