WHAT

Bio-on issues licences enabling the production of MINERV-PHA™ to produce:

The MINERV PHA increases its biodegradability factor in bacteriologically impure water. This type of polymer biodegradation is the future of biodegradability. The natural dissolution of a biopolymer in bacteriologically impure water (e.g. river water) in a few days is a rare and very difficult result to obtain. MINERV-PHA is the first biopolymer obtained from sugar co-products to achieve this important result. In just 10 days in normal river water, MINERV-PHA turns into river water or sea water.
Natural and inexpensive methods such as biodegradation in water are the future of biodegradability. Biodegradation in natural water sources (e.g. river water) is the easiest way to destroy and then recover the elements. This permits maintenance-free materials (no handling, transport or distribution). Biodegradation in water is even more beneficial than biodegradation in soil (compost). The process remains the same: natural decomposition by bacteria. In room temperature water this decomposition happens without being forced in any way, allowing complete biopolymer biodegradation in just a few days. If we combine these features with the initial "performance" of the biopolymer (strength, flexibility, printability), it is easy to understand the final product quality. PHAs are also the only plastics biodegradable in the ocean. Using MINERV PHAs (Polyhydroxyalkanoates developed using beets) Bio-on has identified the possibility of producing a new family of naturally biodegradable polyesters derived from sugar beets. The MINERV PHAs logo identifies the product that will in turn be marked and protected by their specific characterization and subsequently sold or licensed to third parties.
Polyhydroxyalkanoates or PHAs is a linear polyester produced in nature by bacterial fermentation of sugar. More than 100 different monomers can be joined by this family to create materials with extremely different properties. Thermoplastic or elastomeric materials ca be created with melting points ranging from 40 to 180° C. MINERV-PHA is a high-performance PHAs biopolymer. MINERV "spheres" in white represent the MINERV-PHAs biopolymer obtained from sugar beets. These elements are the result of bacteria nourished by beet juices. Recovery is the next step in the process (recovery of PHAs) when Polyhydroxyalkanoates are recovered and separated from the rest of the organic material of the cell. All waste materials (small amounts) are put back into the production cycle to feed new bacterial colonies along with the intermediate beet juice (exclusive Bio-on patent).

Bio-on makes on demand degrees of characterization.
Our laboratories select common, well-known plastic products to be characterized on the basis of Bio-on technology useful for producing PHAs from by-products of sugar beet or cane sugar.
List of known product macro families* whose technical characteristics are replicable by PHAs: - Low density polyethylene (LDPE)
- High density polyethylene (HDPE)
- Polypropylene (PP)
- Polyvinylchloride (PVC)
- Polystyrene (PS)
- Polyethylene (PE)
- Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (*) after identifying PHAs corresponding to the macro family (e.g. Polypropylene PP) specific characterization is performed to identify a further field of use of the precise mechanical, physical and thermal properties.

"OK Biodegradable Water" certification was granted to Bio-on's MinervPHATM bioplastic in 2008. This important recognition was attributed to Bio-on by Belgian body Vinçotte, one of the world's most important and authoritative certifying bodies, thus confirming the complete biodegradability of MinervPHATM in water at ambient temperature.
The MinervPHATM biopolymer, made through technologies owned by Bio-on using agricultural and agro-industrial waste and by-products as raw materials, was the first in the world to obtain such certification. Products certified OK Biodegradable guarantee natural (unforced) biodegradation in a natural freshwater environment and thus make a substantial contribution towards reducing refuse in rivers, lakes and seas. Biodegradation occurs through the action of bacteria colonies naturally present in all environments: the microorganisms attack the material, breaking it down and leaving no trace in the environment. The bacteria colonies and their concentrations differ depending on where biodegradation takes place (specific temperature, humidity, pH, oxygen, etc.).