Dissolving plastics

A new kind of plastic material, Minerv-Pha, produced by a small Italian company Bio-On (located in Minerbio, near Bologna), has been developed to exist only for the limited period of its useful life before biodegrading with no residues.
Minerv-Pha is based on a polymer naturally produced by bacteria feeding on waste from sugar beets processing; they produce a plastic substance that they use as an energy reserve.
The production process consists of breaking the cellular membrane of the bacterium, releasing a substance which is then dried, washed and pulverized, ready to be used for bottles, bags, medical devices, etc.
Its Italian inventors state that this material is natural and can easily be broken down by bacteria commonly found in water. Forty days are enough for objects produced with Minerv-Pha to disappear completely.
Bio-On has recently obtained a 100% biodegradability certificate from the Vincotte agency of Belgium.