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.
