University of Bath spinout Naturbeads has raised €4.1m (£3.6m) in EU funding to help set up and support its production plant in southern Italy.
Naturbeads is striving to remedy the use of harmful microplastics in everyday products by developing a biodegradable, cellulose-based alternative.
Its patented process eliminates microplastic pollution at the source and can be used in a range of products such as cosmetics, paints, detergents, coatings, leather and other consumer and industrial applications.
It works by refining cellulose – a natural material that is the building blocks of plants – into perfectly round microspheres, making it an ideal replacement for plastic microparticles.
The EU funding will be used to partially reimburse Naturbeads for the construction of a new production plant in Puglia, as well as supporting R&D costs while it gears up to full commercialisation over the next two years.
The grant is part of an EU funding programme called the European Structural Fund, which helps finance bespoke economic and social development projects in selected areas.
“We’ve already reached a key milestone by successfully starting production in our plant,” says Giovanna Laudisio, CEO of Naturbeads. “Our current focus is to complete the startup of different sections of the plant so that in June, we can ramp up production and start serving our customers around the world that are waiting for our product.
“We’re nature’s fix to using microplastics as we tackle the problem at source while maintaining the same performance and cost as plastics.”
