The first licensing deal came into effect once the deal was signed, while a second will be put into effect in the first half of 2017. The total value of the licenses is €55 million, payable over the next 24-36 months. Under the terms of the agreement, the licensee is permitted to construct a series of PHA plants for a total annual output of 100,000 metric tons. Individual annual plant capacities will be 10,000-30,000 metric tons.
Once online, the licensee will be able to replace a large percentage of its petroleum-based plastic needs with biodegradable PHA-based plastic made from byproducts of the sugar and starch industries. The PHA-based material will be used exclusively within the licensee’s own production cycle.
“[This agreement] comes at the end of a long and complex negotiation process which began in the second quarter of 2016 and is line with the forecasts for 2017 and 2018 laid down in the new industrial plan we presented in November 2016,” says Marco Astorri, Bio-on Chairman and CEO.
The two companies have also agreed to design and develop new applications for PHA materials by spring 2017.