NOVAMONT TOASTS QUEEN ELIZABETH II

The Foreign Office has banned single-use plastic and the British Embassy in Rome is opting for disposable tableware and materials made of MATER-BI bioplastic for the birthday party in honour of Queen Elizabeth II
 
Novara, 14 June 2018 – Plates, placemats, trays, clingfilm, cutlery and glasses only in Mater-Bi bioplastic for the Queen’s Birthday Party that will be celebrated on 14 June at Villa Wolkonsky, the site of the British Embassy in Rome, and in the consular offices of Milan and Naples. Following the May government’s initiatives on plastic waste pollution, the Foreign Office has decided that all UK diplomatic missions should apply a "plastic-free" policy, especially for single-use products (SUP). Novamont has been identified as a partner to come up with sustainable alternatives to plastic products to be used on the occasion of the celebrations of the birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and, going forward, for the regular management of the Embassy’s needs.
Novamont manufactures and markets a wide range of bioplastics under the MATER-BI brand that are biodegradable and compostable in accordance with the UNI 13432 standard. They are obtained by means of proprietary technologies using starches, cellulose, vegetable oils and their combinations, used in so many areas of everyday life. The compostable products made of MATER-BI provide solutions that can close the circular economy loop because they come from the earth and return to the earth. Unlike plastic crockery which, once contaminated with food, ends up at best in incinerators and at worst in landfills, plates, glasses and cutlery made of MATER-BI can be disposed of in composting plants together with the organic fraction of the separate waste collection and at the end of the composting cycle they contribute to the creation of quality compost, a very important ally in the fight against desertification and soil erosion.
Using products made of MATER-BI bioplastic rather than single-use plastic crockery means not wasting exhaustible resources for products with just a few minutes of useful life, reducing the production of unseparated waste and all associated issues (landfilling, soil and air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions) and favouring production and consumption scenarios where waste can be used for other processes and economically recycled, with a view to the circular economy.

According to Andrea Di Stefano, Novamont’s head of special projects and business communication, “By making this choice, the British Embassy in Italy is making a gesture of great educational value, against the squandering of natural resources and in favour the separate collection of organic waste and its potential as a remedy for desertification, one of the causes of the rise in the earth’s temperature.”

The Novamont Group is world leader in the development and production of bioplastics and biochemicals through the integration of chemistry, the environment and agriculture. With 600 employees, the Group posted sales of €170 million in 2016 and made continuous investments in research and development activities (20% of staff) and has a portfolio of around 1,000 patents. The group has its headquarters in Novara, a production facility in Terni and research laboratories in Novara, Terni and Piana di Monte Verna (CE). Novamont has subsidiaries based in Porto Torres (SS), Bottrighe (RO), and Patrica (FR). Active in Germany, France and the United States through commercial offices and a representative office in Brussels (Belgium), Novamont operates through own distributors in Benelux, Scandinavia, Denmark, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
 
Novamont Press Office
Francesca De Sanctis - francesca.desanctis@novamont.com - tel.: +39 0321.699.611 - cell.: +39 340.1166.426