Bio-on and Rivoira present ZEROPACK, bioplastic for food packaging of fruits and vegetables
28 Dicembre 2018 - 10:01AM
Bio-on and Rivoira present ZEROPACK, bioplastic for food packaging
of fruits and vegetables
- ZEROPACK is born, the new company created by Bio-on for the
exploitation of the patents aimed to revolutionize the world of
food packaging in the fruits and vegetable sector through the use
of bioplastics. The aim is to allow all distributors to serve
customers with sustainable and environmental friendly
products.
- Rivoira enters the capital of ZEROPACK buying 50% of the
shares: a strategic operation that aims to quickly acquire a
leading position in the new frontier of food packaging for fresh
fruits and vegetables. To accelerate the development of the
technology, ZEROPACK acquired an exclusive worldwide license for 10
million euros from Bio-on.
- Bio-on researchers working in this field for 4 years have
discovered that PHA bioplastics can replace most of the plastics
used in food packaging, confirming the extraordinary versatility of
the bioplastic, a platform product that can be used to transform
and make environmentally sustainable also the sector of fruits,
vegetables, meat, fish and cheese.
Bologna - Cuneo (Italy) 28 December 2018
– The demand for new eco-sustainable materials for packaging is
constantly increasing and consumers reward the choices of producers
and distributors that respect the planet. Bio-on, listed on
the AIM of Italian Stock Exchange and active in the high-quality
bioplastic sector, and Rivoira, one of the world's leading
manufacturers of high quality fruit and always careful on
innovation, announce a strategic agreement to develop new
materials for food packaging of fresh fruits and vegetables, even
single use, with ZEROPACK S.p.A., founded by Bio-on and
of which Rivoira acquires the 50%.ZEROPACK will be able
to produce films, crates, small and large containers, fruit
supports and completely natural labels based on bioplastic, 100%
natural and biodegradable, produced also from fruit and vegetable
wastes. To accelerate the development of these solutions and
quickly gain a leading position in this rapidly growing sector with
a high demand for quality, ZEROPACK has acquired from Bio-on an
exclusive license to exploit the technology for 10 million
euros.
The technology is based on the research
activities that Bio-on researchers have been conducting for 4 years
in this field of application in Italian and US laboratories and it
will help to limit the new environmental emergency represented
by the enormous quantity of plastic waste. As it is known, the
traditional plastics nowadays used to package food products do not
allow efficient recycling processes and often contain highly
polluting components.
"The investment announced today represents to us
the entrance of a large company - explains Marco Astorri,
President and CEO of Bio-on - and we are particularly proud
that a prestigious group like Rivoira, through Marco Rivoira and
Gualtiero Rivoira, recognise the innovation and the potentiality of
the new technologies developed by Bio-on in the field of food
packaging. The basis of our bioplastic has all the qualities to
revolutionize the world of food packaging through ZEROPACK. This is
what people are asking for and we will do it together with ZEROPACK
and the Rivoira group”. Moreover, thanks to the diversification of
the Rivoira group, Zeropack will have the possibility to use Bio-on
technology also in the mineral water field. The Rivoira group
controls Fonti Alta Valle Po spa, owner of Acqua Eva, a young
company with a very strong expansion in the national and
international market.
"We are happy to enter the world of packaging
for the future - explains Marco Rivoira, Ceo Gruppo Rivoira
- and in particular to contribute with our experience and daily
production quality to the creation of completely different products
compared to those we can find on the market today. ZEROPACK
anticipates the strategies of the Rivoira Group, always looking for
innovations. The mission is to provide total quality of both
product and packaging. To study materials to revolutionize this
sector, starting from nature and naturally, will allow the giants
of distribution to have a 100% sustainable alternative”.
All the bioplastics developed by Bio-on (PHAs or
polyhydroxy-alkanoates and PHBs or poly-hydroxy-butyrates) are
obtained from renewable plant sources without any competition with
food chains; in most cases they guarantee the same
thermo-mechanical properties of traditional plastics with the
advantage of being completely eco-friendly and 100% biodegradable
in a natural way. Thanks to the exclusive characteristics of its
materials, Bio-on now extends its use to another of the most
innovative and interesting field of application such as
food-packaging. The researches in this field of application are
based on PHBs, the only organic material that derives from the
nature having piezoelectric properties
Rivoira completed the acquisition of 50% of
ZEROPACK S.p.A through RK Zero Srl with Carlo Lingua and Paolo
Carissimo partners. Following the transaction, the share of Bio-on
and RK zero is equal to 50.00% each. Bio-on has granted ZEROPACK an
exclusive license for the direct and indirect exploitation of
technology for this specific sector for a total amount of 10
million euros. This agreement fully contributes to the 2018 Bio-on
results and is part of the business plan presented in 2016. From
2019 ZEROPACK will present new patents and will begin various
collaborations with distributors and producers worldwide.
www.zeropack.it
Press information: Simona Vecchies
+393351245190 – press@bio-on.it – twitter @BioOnBioplastic
Rivoira. Founded in 1950 by Giovanni Rivoira, a pioneer of
innovation in agriculture, in Falicetto, municipality of Verzuolo
in the province of Cuneo (Italy), Rivoira is today one of the
leading fruit producers and distributors in Europe. The production,
initially limited to apples and peaches, has grown over the years:
today it reaches almost 100 thousand tons per year and includes
kiwis, nectarines, plums, pears, grapes, cherries, mangoes and
pomegranates produced mainly in Italy, where Rivoira has 6 owned
farms, and in Chile. There are three factories equipped with the
most advanced preservation and packaging technologies. Rivoira
exports to the main European countries and is a leader in some
non-EU markets such as Saudi Arabia and Libya. Since its foundation
the company has been characterized by a high rate of innovation,
both in the field with the adoption of the most modern principles
of sustainable agriculture and integrated defense, both in the
conservation, selection and packaging phase, to guarantee the final
consumer a high quality standard. In terms of diversification,
Rivoira invested in the production of water in 2010 and with the
EVA brand it conquered the international markets thanks to the
lightness of the highest water in Europe and to the sodium content,
one with the lowest in the world. In the last 10 years, the group
has also invested in the construction of hydroelectric plants and
electricity production in Chile. Web link: www.rivoira.it Acqua Eva
is born minimally mineralized from the slopes of Monviso at 2042
meters, from the highest source in Europe. Pure and light as it
flows from the source, it is bottled keeping its key properties
unaltered, including a very low fixed residue, only 48 mg / l and
one of the lowest sodium content in the world, only 0.32 mg / l. In
May 2013, the Monviso area in which the sources of Acqua Eva are
located has been awarded the prestigious Unesco Biosphere Reserve
award. Acqua Eva has always been committed to innovation and in
July 2018 it inaugurated a fully automated warehouse that today
remains unique in Europe in the field of mineral water. Thanks to
its unique characteristics, Acqua Eva, after only eight years, is
one of the best-selling waters in Italy and exports to over 10
countries worldwide. www.acquaeva.it
Bio-On S.p.A., an Italian Intellectual Property Company (IPC),
operates in the bioplastic sector conducting applied research and
development of modern bio-fermentation technologies in the field of
eco-sustainable and completely naturally biodegradable materials.
In particular, Bio-On develops industrial applications through the
creation of product characterisations, components and plastic
items. Since February 2015, Bio-On S.p.A. has also been operating
in the development of natural and sustainable chemicals for the
future. Bio-On has developed an exclusive process for the
production of a family of polymers called PHAs
(polyhydroxyalkanoates) from agricultural waste (including molasses
and sugar cane and sugar beet syrups). The bioplastic produced in
this way is able to replace the main families of traditional
plastics in terms of performance, thermo- mechanical properties and
versatility. Bio-On PHAs is a bioplastic that can be classified as
100% natural and completely biodegradable: this has been certified
by Vincotte and by USDA (United States Department of Agriculture).
The Issuer's strategy envisages the marketing of licenses for PHAs
production and related ancillary services, the development of
R&D (also through new collaborations with universities,
research centres and industrial partners), as well as the
realisation of industrial plants designed by Bio-On.
www.bio-on.it
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