Don’t leave your lamp in the garden

New edition of Phillipe Starck’s Miss Sissi lamp is biodegradable in soil and water

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the Merano, Italy-based lighting company Flos has unveiled a remake of its classic Miss Sissi lamp, claimed to be “fully biodegradable in soil and water”.

The original lamp, designed by Phillipe Starck in 1991, has hitherto been moulded in polycarbonate.

Flos claims to have created the world’s first design object to be made from injection moulded polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA). The Minerv-PHA bioplastic has been developed by Bologna-based Bio-on using beet and cane waste supplied by the Italian sugar co-operative Co.Pro.B. Since it is derived from waste, zero impact on the food cycle is claimed. No organic solvents are used in its production.

Bio-on managing director Marco Astorri says: “The technology is available at a global level and, with the range of biopolymers developed by Bio-on, it is now possible to create a vast range of objects in all sectors currently using plastic.”

Bio-on was founded in 2007 to apply biotechnologies to widely used materials, Its aim is to create completely naturally-derived products using PHA derived 100% from renewable sources or agricultural processing waste.

The company licenses its PHA technology to specific commercial sectors.

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