Italian bioplastics major Novamont has opened the world's first commercial-scale facility for the bio-based production of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) at its Mater-Biotech plant in Italy. BDO is a major intermediate chemical used in the manufacture of plastics.

Novamont, an Italy-based global major in bioplastics, has announced the opening of the world’s first commercial-scale facility for the bio-based production of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) at its Mater-Biotech plant in Bottrighe, northeastern Italy. BDO is a major intermediate chemical used in the manufacture of plastics.
Novamont’s Mater-Biotech BDO facility will produce 30 000 tonnes per annum of BDO from renewable sources. This will be used to make biodegradable, compostable bio-plastic products such as fruit and vegetables bags, mulch film and coffee capsules at the plant. The new facility uses a sugar to bio-BDO conversion technology licensed from Genomatica, a US-based biobased process technology developer.
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