POLIPO · The first non-fermentative production process for low cost synthesis of biodegradable PHAs bioplastic from vegetal oils and fats

POLìPO S.r.l. has developed the first chemical route (not based on bacterial fermentation) to produce PHA from vegetal oils and fats. PHA is the only bioplastic which is 100% degradable in natural environment but is presently only applied in niche applications due the high costs of production. POLìPO's chemical route to PHA represents a game changing technology in the field of bioplastic, making it possible to produce a biodegradable bioplastic with key advantages with respect to current fermentative route: reduction of production cost > 35 %; reduction of investment for production plant of around 70-80%; reduction of plant size of around 50%; use of non-food raw materials.The unique selling point is then to enable production of 100% biodegradable PHAs from different non-food oil sources in a competitive manner for large scale applications (e.g. food packaging) which are presently not allowed by the high price of PHAs. This will allow as first step to substitute bio-based PET in this segment, worth 800 kt/year in 2016, and successively targeting substitution of fossil based plastics. After validation at pre-industrial scale, POLìPO’s process will be licensed to existing and new industrial players in the bioplastic manufacturing sector, in the form of License Agreement or Joint Venture. In the feasibility study POLìPO needs to 1) carry out Customer Validation for the technology, 2) Define the industrial upstream and downstream value chain and profiling industrial partners and investors 3) Refine the Business Plan the Business Model and the Investment strategy.