Issue 04/2016

News
daily upated news at
www.bioplasticsmagazine.com
New joint venture Carbiolice for bio-sourced and
biodegradable plastic films
From 1 January 2017 onwards, via its Energy Transition and Green Growth Law, France will enforce the use of bio-sourced
and biodegradable plastics for fruit & vegetable bags (35,000 tons per year) and other films. The joint venture Carbiolice shall
address this challenge in the long term by continuing to develop biolice by Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients (Riom, France) and
industrialising technological innovation licenced by Carbios (Saint-Beauzire, France).
Carbiolice is the product of a partnership between Carbios’ innovative technology and Limagrain’s technical, industrial and
commercial expertise acquired over more than 15 years in the bioplastics sector. Carbios is providing major innovation with its
enzymatic technology. Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients is providing its expertise and existing production capacity for bioplastic
granules, known under the brand name biolice. The SPI “Industrial Projects Company” investment fund, financed by the PIA
Future Investments Programme and run by Bpifrance, will round off the financial partnership to support the expansion of
industrial production.
The future company shall take over Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients’ bioplastics activity and progressively integrate the
technological innovations licenced by Carbios over time. The granules will be used to produce bio-sourced and biodegradable
plastic films for a variety of applications including green waste collection bags, mulch films, fruit & vegetable bags, industrial
films and even mailing films. Theses biodegradable plastics will meet the increasingly stringent requirements defined by
France’s energy transition law.
The future company will, in the long term, create 50 direct jobs and support one of the first green chemistry technologies
currently under development and to be deployed on an industrial scale in France.
The contributions from industrial assets and licences result in a project total of EUR 29.5 million. The SPI fund will invest
EUR 11 million over this period to ultimately reach a 37 % shareholding in Carbiolice. These investments will help to ensure
activity growth by progressively acquiring additional industrial capacity. They will also help to support the industrial and
commercial development of the new plastic materials derived from Carbios technology. MT
www.lci.limagrain.com | www.carbios.fr
Novamont and Barbier Group to develop new
home compostable bag for fruits and vegetables
Italian bioplastics firm Novamont and French leading producer of plastic films Barbier Group announced today they have
signed a partnership aimed at the development of a new kind of bioplastic lightweight bag for fruits and vegetables.
The new bag, to be marketed under the name Ma-Ter-Bio (the bag for planet Earth), will offer a more sustainable alternative
to traditional non-biodegradable and non-compostable plastic packaging.
As required under French law, the new bag is plant based, suitable for home composting and obtained from locally sourced
starch and sunflower oil. Ma-Ter-Bio is made with at least 35 %, up to over 50 %, renewable content from biomass.
The Barbier Group is the leading French producer of plastic films, and ranks as the sixth largest in Europe. The company sells
polyethylene sheeting for agriculture and industry, as well as bags for the supermarket sector (for vegetables and fruits, waste
collection, with soft handles). The Group has been developing products from both recycled and biodegradable/compostable
materials for over 15 years. All its products are covered by the trademark “Guaranteed French Origin”.
Novamont is the pioneer company in the sector of biodegradable and compostable bioplastics from renewable sources.
Founded in 1989, it built its growth on the principles of the circular bioeconomy and the production of bioplastic materials
that formed an alternative to traditional plastics from fossil sources. The Italybased
bioplastics manufacturer of the Mater-Bi line of bioplastics is a global
leader in this field, with an annual production capacity of 150,000 tons.
With marked prescience, Novamont opened its French subsidiary in 2006 to
follow the developments relating to the new energy transition law more closely,
as well as to monitor the local market as a whole. This has led to the signing of
a partnership agreement with a French company, thus laying the basis for the
supply of locally sourced materials. According to Novamont, this is a first step
towards the creation of a production site on French soil. KL
www.novamont.com
6 bioplastics MAGAZINE [04/16] Vol. 11