Automotive 10 Years ago
Automotive 10 Years ago Published in bioplastics MAGAZINE Bottle Applications Where appropriate Fonti di Vinadio use wood for many of the logistic plant parts Pure, Light, Mountain Water – Bottled in Ingeo I talian mineral water company Fonti di Vinadio Spa, which bottles and sells Sant’Anna di Vinadio mineral water is located in the North-Italian Piedmont area. Just recently they introduced their water in Ingeo PLA bottles. bioplastics MAGAZINE spoke to Alberto Bertone, owner and Chairman of the company (assisted by Ingeo European press office - Global Business Solutions) bM: Mr. Bertone, can you tell us something about your company and its history? AB: Well, I founded the company Fonti di Vinadio Spa in 1996. The company ethos is based on a deep conviction of the high potential for the water which flows from the mountains towering over Vinadio, in the heart of the Maritime Alps. The high quality of the Vinadio water has been known since the 16th century. Today, Sant’Anna water is the market leader in Italy with a turnover of about 150 million Euro and an output of 650 million bottles in 2007. bM: Before you started filling your water in PLA bottles, did you use PET or glass or even other packaging? AB: From the very beginning, Sant’Anna has been available in PET. We never used glass or cans or carton. bM: What did you do before? AB: When we entered the market about 10 years ago, we always focused on our Sant’Anna brand, optimizing our business also with co-packaging activities. Currently the business is 98% represented by Sant’Anna brand sales. From the beginning, environmental activities have always been part of our focus. bM: Why did you start this PLA-bottle activity? AB: I decided to experiment bottling the mineral water with an innovative material derived totally from a raw vegetal material about one year ago. I imported the Ingeo bioplastic bottle preforms directly from the USA. And so with the policy of our company focused very much on the environmental aspects of this project, we can calculate that if 50 million of our new bioplastic bottles each weighing 27 grams replace the same quantity of PET bottles, we will save 13,600 barrels of crude oil, or the same amount of energy it takes to supply electricity to 40,000 people for an entire month. bM: What do you expect from bottles? AB: Of course the Sant’Anna great eco solution that matches contemporary consumer, and it important business reality for San is looking for sustainability improve services. These include reduction emissions, reductions in fossil e in oil dependency and more. Swi material allows us to make a posit environment we all live in without way of life. Sant‘Anna has a robust corporate policy and by switching to Ingeo P translate this policy in a meaningfu transactions with our direct custom This without sacrificing anything from quality perspective. The new Sant’Anna BioBottle deliver made them market leader in Italy for Sant’Anna water has achieved extra terms of its values of lightness (fixed one of the lowest in the world, rece for use in the diet of newborn babie diets (only 0.9 mg/l of sodium). The p is guaranteed by the latest generation Fonti di Vinadio wants to become a Europ and the challenge will now be the Germ bM: Did someone support you? AB: Of course Sant’Anna has been w with NatureWorks LLC, the world‘s manufacturer of their unique natural pl Ingeo now used to create these new BioB bM: What products are you currently b which sizes? AB: For the moment we are producing j water in two sizes: 0,5 litres and 1,5 litres. bM: Does your company have any policy f of the bottles? AB: Initially, a limited number of what w “BioBottles” will be introduced, about 50 m bottles during the first 12 months. The Ing be distinguished from the PET ones, both by by the color, which will be green. Furthermor will be limited to a specific geographic area. T the company to monitor the impact of the ne the market and the reactions of the consu same time, Acqua Sant’Anna is keeping in with businesses, public and private bodie 12 bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/08] Vol. 3 40 bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/18] Vol. 13
Automotive In September 2018, Alberto Bertone, Chairman and CEO of Fonti di Vinadio Spa (Sant’Anna Group) says: the introduction of PLA Ingeo BioBottle is a the new needs of the opens up a new and t’Anna today. The world ments in products and s in greenhouse gas nergy use, reductions tching to a bio-based ive contribution to the having to change our social responsibility LA bottles, we can l way into our daily ers and consumers. a performance or s all the values that volume and value. ordinary results in residue 23.1 mg/l), iving authorisation s and low sodium roduction process bottling systems. ean brand leader, an market. orking very close first large-scale astic branded as ottles. ottling in PLA in ust still mineral or “end-of-life” e call the new illion half-liter eo bottles will the label and e, distribution his will allow w product on mers. At the close touch s and trade associations dealing with environmental matters and, in particular, has already advised those responsible for refuse collection and disposal regarding this business venture, in order to enable an assessment of the various disposal options and decide which method is best suited to these new plastics. The message to consumers is to collect the BioBottles in a regular plastic bottle bin, together with all the plastic packaging. The company in charge of plastic waste treatmant will separate the BioBottles bottles from the rest of the stream and will decide to go for the best available end-of-life whether it be incineration, composting or recycling. Some companies are already interested in composting, others are prepared only for incineration and some are willing to test industrial scale chemical recycling. All in all a lot of interest for a new bioplastic offering so many disposal and recovery options. bM: Anything else you’d like to tell our readers? AB: We would like to underline that Sant’Anna, the leading brand name of Fonti di Vinadio, is a completely Italian-owned business, and will market for the first time in Italy and will mass market for the first time in Europe a mineral water that uses a bottle made entirely from the revolutionary natural plastic made from plant sugars rather than petroleum. Acqua Sant’Anna is the first privatelyowned Italian business to combine an environmentallyfriendly policy with a venture of this size. bM: Thank you very much Mr.Bertone www.santanna.it Alberto Bertone Bottle Applications Ten years have gone by since the introduction of Sant’Anna’s Bio Bottle into the market. It is the first bottle in the world aimed at the mass market of mineral waters that uses compostable packaging, made with the biopolymer Ingeo PLA. At the end of 2008 Fonti di Vinadio Spa., the market leader with its Sant’Anna brand, introduced a sales test. Shortly thereafter, at the beginning of 2009, the 1.5 litre bottle, the highest selling format for this product’s category, was placed on the shelves. Today the Bio Bottle has a range of sizes including 1 litre and 750 ml. Over the past 10 years we continued to believe and to invest. Furthermore, we received a lot of recognition for this product, even though the market, from the point of view of sales in particular, was not ready yet. Surely there is a general awareness that is more sensitive to the environment. Other sectors are making important contributions to green culture. Think about electric cars and bicycles, solar panels, domestic ecology, a tendency towards natural that can also be found in cosmetics and detergents … . A lot has been done but there’s still more to do. Why is this sensitivity not translated today into an automatic purchasing act, into a shopping habit? But Sant’Anna has not stopped believing! Not only have we not stopped, but we continue to believe because the future can only go in that direction. Our water has always been the water of families, of mothers and babies. It has been recognized for its quality that derives from its organoleptic characteristics. Our commitment to the consumer is therefore enriched through a container that, besides having immense respect for the environment, by being natural it is also extremely respectful of the contents. tinyurl.com/2008-bottle bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/08] Vol. 3 13 bioplastics MAGAZINE [04/18] Vol. 13 41
