A notable innovation in the field of product design
is certainly represented by a particular material: Mater-Bi,
a polymer derived from maize, the patent for which is
owned by Novamont of Novara.

This material was truly established during the
Sydney Olympics, when the Games' organising committee
used only plates and containers made from this material
for the catering of athletes and the public.

Since then, the number of objects made from
this particular bioplastic has grown.
There are leisure items, such as golf balls that dissolve in water. There are more practical, everyday objects such as cutlery. But there are also products that have entered
mass distribution: in many European supermarkets
there is a wide range of items made from Mater-Bi: from
fruit nets to paper containers to biodegradable bags.

Finally, there are also more technological applications, such as,
for example, tyres.
It was July 2001 when a tyre was launched on the market
that, in place of carbon black and silica, used in its compound the maize starch of the Piedmontese company, making it possible to
reduce rolling resistance (thanks to the lower weight of
the tyre resulting from the new material, the friction between it
and the road surface is reduced) and therefore reducing fuel consumption and
greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide and carbonic acid).

This new direction in the chemical industry is probably
a positive signal driven by the increasingly
responsible behaviour of consumers, who today select
products and translate into a purchasing decision what was previously
no more than a simple awareness of environmental issues.