"Italy: "Sustainable practice hard to establish in Italy"

The use of biological degradable tomato clips and truss supporting systems is gaining popularity in regions where sustainability and eco friendly agriculture is high on the agenda. However, manufacturers of the biopolymer items still encounter problems on marketing in areas where there is a lack of environmental requirements. "It is a hard and long road to get the Italian greenhouse growers aware of the fact that their current products are lying heavy on the environment, "said Nicola Tibaldi of Tibibio. "Right now, the industry has to deal with reducing cost prices, and the environment is the last thing they think about. But still there are other reasons for them to start using biopolymer based products."

Nicola Tibaldi and his father started to produce eco friendly biodegradable agricultural crop supporting systems in 2011. "We started this new company because we wanted to supply the industry with a product that was different from others", Tibaldi said. "In that time, the market for horticultural hooks, clips and other support systems was pretty much saturated. That's why we started to use a biopolymer based on vegetable waste to use as a bio-plastic for injection molding, in order to break open a new market. From there on, we were able to develop, manufacture and market the products by ourselves, so we no longer dependent on other suppliers. We have biodegradable items available for two different sectors right now: tomato clips and truss support for greenhouses tomato production and hooks to join the wires for wine production."

After the introduction of their biopolymers, Tibibio gained a lot of interest from viticulturists that were interested in vineyard hooks. "In this industry, the growers are able to achieve a large margin on their produce. Due to this, we could enter this market quite easily. The growers use our organic certificated biodegradable items not only for the fact that it is biological, but they also are saving a lot of money on labor, because they do not have to collect the hooks at the end of the season. The growers can leave the hooks in the field, without harming the environment, because the hooks are completely biodegradable. The material will also spead up the biodegradation process if it is put in compost with vegetation, plants and other organic material."

For vegetable growers, the biodegradable hooks and clips offer the advantage of reducing cost as well. "In the countries where waste processing cost are increasing every year due to the economical crisis and environmental restrictions, our items offer big advantages. For example, growers that are chopping there crops at the end of the season are paying an extra surtax when there is plastic in between the organic material. This could be twine or crop supporting systems. For these growers, the biodegradable plastics are a big advantage."

"Unfortunately, it is very hard for us to reach these markets at this moment", Tibaldi stated. "We are now exploring the possibilities and are in search of distributors that can help us by reaching other markets abroad. Of course the difficulties of entering the tomato market are a direct result of the grower’s mentality and their preferences on resources they want to invest. Meanwhile, we will stay focused on getting the Italian growers aware, because it is time for some environmentally friendly awareness!"

For more information:
TIBI BIO
Di Tibaldi Dario e Nicola
Tel. 0290988292
www.tibibio.it
[email protected]