The Interiors business unit of Canadian automotive supplier Magna (Aurora, Ontario; www.magnaint.com) has joined forces with Italian biotechnology company bio-on (Bologna; www.bio-on.it) with the aim of commencing R&D activities on the use of bioplastics for the automotive industry. The two companies signed the relevant cooperation agreement in December last year.

The collaboration calls for research into how bio-on’s bioplastic production can be implemented on an industrial and cost-effective scale, while simultaneously testing the material's performance in different industry processes, including thermoforming. The tests are to be carried out at Magna’s plant in Liberec / Czech Republic.

Founded in 2007, the Italian group has developed a method whereby PHA is created through bacteria feeding on sugar beet by-products (for previous coverage, see Plasteurope.com of 24.10.2011). During the fermentation period, the material is then converted into PHA. The resulting plastic is claimed to be fully biodegradable in water and soil. The company is planning to build a 10,000 t/y PHA plant utilising its technology.