Glasses go ‘BIO'. Partnership between Bio-On and Kering Eyewear

The two companies will work together on new eco-sustainable materials to match and exceed the characteristics of the plastics used to date in eyewear
The aim is to create a series of innovative materials to broaden creativity
Kering Eyewear, part of Kering Group, created to manage the eyewear category for the Group’s brands, is the world’s first company in the sector to use Bio-on biopolymers

BOLOGNA – PADOVA (Italy), September 5, 2017 – Bio-on, listed in the AIM segment of the Borsa Italiana, announces a partnership with Kering Eyewear to develop new materials based on Minerv PHAs, the revolutionary bioplastic which is 100% natural and biodegradable. “This is the first time in the world that a company in the eyewear industry has decided to carry out research with our biopolymers,” explains Marco Astorri, Chairman and CEO of Bio-on.

Kering Eyewear’s aim is to make an active contribution to the development of an innovative and sustainable business model, providing its team of designers with a series of cutting-edge materials to broaden their creative possibilities, setting new trends in the luxury and sport & lifestyle segments. Researchers from the two companies will collaborate to design, certify and put on the market new eco-sustainable materials to be integrated with the use of cellulose acetate, one of the most common materials used in the majority of the eyewear products on the market to date.

All PHAs bioplastics (polyhydroxyalkanoates) developed by Bio-on are made from renewable plant sources with no competition with food supply chains. They guarantee the same thermo-mechanical properties as conventional plastics with the advantage of being 100% eco-sustainable and naturally biodegradable.

“We are proud to be the first in the world to use our PHAs biopolymer together with such a prestigious and internationally renowned company as Kering Eyewear. Thanks to this collaboration, we are launching a new era in the eyewear world,” says Bio-on Chairman and CEO Marco Astorri. “The union of creativity and technology will give rise to items with absolutely innovative characteristics. Our laboratories and scientists will develop a vast range of new formulations, giving free rein to the creativity of the most discerning designers.”

“The partnership with Bio-on represents a tangible sign of Kering Eyewear’s attention to sustainability and its desire to bring innovation to a consolidated industry. In our Group,” explains Roberto Vedovotto, Chairman and CEO of Kering Eyewear, “we strongly believe that ‘sustainable business is smart business’. The materials developed by Bio-on, 100% natural and biodegradable, will be a revolution in the eyewear industry and completely dovetail our unique approach to the market, as well as our desire to offer increasingly high quality and innovative products. In the luxury sector, sustainability and environmental awareness are no longer an option, they are a must.”

About Kering Eyewear

Kering Eyewear is part of the Kering Group, a global Luxury group that develops an ensemble of luxury houses in fashion, leather goods, jewellery and watches. Today, Kering Eyewear designs, develops and distributes eyewear for a complete and well-balanced portfolio of 15 brands: Gucci, Cartier, BottegaVeneta, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Brioni, Altuzarra, AzzedineAlaïa, Boucheron, Pomellato, Puma, McQ, Christopher Kane, Tomas Maier.

BIO-ON S.p.A.

Bio-On S.p.A., an Italian Intellectual Property Company (IPC), operates in the bioplastic sector conducting applied research and development of modern bio-fermentation technologies in the field of eco-sustainable and completely naturally biodegradable materials. In particular, Bio-On develops industrial applications through the creation of product characterisations, components and plastic items. Since February 2015, Bio-On S.p.A. has also been operating in the development of natural and sustainable chemicals for the future. Bio-On has developed an exclusive process for the production of a family of polymers called PHAs (polyhydroxyalkanoates) from agricultural waste (including molasses and sugar cane and sugar beet syrups). The bioplastic produced in this way is able to replace the main families of traditional plastics in terms of performance, thermo-mechanical properties and versatility. Bio-On PHAs is a bioplastic that can be classified as 100% natural and completely biodegradable: this has been certified by Vincotte and by USDA (United States Department of Agriculture). The Issuer’s strategy envisages the marketing of licenses for PHAs production and related ancillary services, the development of R&D (also through new collaborations with universities, research centres and industrial partners), as well as the realisation of industrial plants designed by Bio-On.