Italian biotech company Bio-on announces the launch of a new collaboration with Italeri S.p.A., a production and distribution leader in the modelling sector. Thanks to this agreement, the manufacture of scale models will be done for the first time with the special grade Minerv PHA Supertoys, the new type of bioplastic developed by Bio-on laboratories.
“Based on the Bio-on biopolymer, 100% naturally biodegradable and already tested in dozens of applications, from automotive to design to biomedical, Supertoys is safe, hygienic and biodegradable, it meets and exceeds the provisions of the recent European Directive 2009/48/EC, known as the TDS (Toy Safety Directive), implemented into the standard international procedure for toy safety evaluation EN 71”, the company writes in a note.
The Minerv PHA Supertoys project, launched by Bio-on in late 2015, aims to demonstrate that specific, eco-sustainable and completely biodegradable formulations can be created for making toys that are safe for children and the environment, without losing out on the end product’s functionality and aesthetic.
“We are extremely proud to be launching this important collaboration with Italeri, a company that has written the history of global modelling,” explains Bio-on Chairman Marco Astorri, “because it offers us the opportunity to develop new uses for PHAs Supertoys biopolymers in thousands of different items with extremely high levels of precision”.
“It’s a fascinating challenge,” say Gian Pietro Parmeggiani and Giuliano Malservisi, the co-founders of Italeri S.p.A., “to be able to create new models with a completely natural eco-sustainable material that truly takes us to the future. The great success our sector is enjoying, amongst people of all ages, has a new eco-sustainable goal for the future. Not just at home but also in schools around the world, there is a need to return to the manual activities lost through excessive use of screens. Enabling people to do this with completely natural products will put us at the cutting-edge in the coming decades”.
Bio-on bioplastics are made from renewable waste plant sources, with no competition with food supply chains, and are 100% naturally biodegradable. “We chose Italeri products”, explains Astorri, “because they are very complex to produce. Tolerance is minimal and managing to guarantee such a high quality level will enable us to make future developments in every other item in the sector”. The Minerv PHA Supertoys research and development project launched in December 2015 is dedicated to all companies around the world working on toy design and aims to create two types of bioplastic by the end of 2017: Minerv PHA Supertoys type “R”, rigid and strong, and Minerv PHA Supertoys type “F”, ductile and flexible.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 