Italian bioplastics developer Bio-on has joined forces with Eridania Sadam’s Gruppo Industriale Maccaferri (S.E.C.I) to build the world’s first plant for the production of bioplastics from glycerol, a byproduct of biodiesel.

The two companies will invest €55 million in the facility that will have output of 5,000-10,000 t/y of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) biopolymers per year and will be built at an Eridania Sadam site. PHAs have the same thermo-mechanical properties as traditional polymers based on petroleum.

Massimo Maccaferri, chairman of S.E.C.I, which will supply the glycerol feedstock, said the company is paying €4 million to use the new technology developed by Bio-on because the all-natural bioplastic represents a technological challenge that can contribute to its growth in the new "green" chemistry industry.