In brief
A former petrochemical site in Sardinia has become an industrial centre for biobased chemicals. The FIRST2RUN project, supported by the European Union and led by Novamont, helped establish an integrated biorefinery in Porto Torres, producing renewable chemical building blocks from vegetable oils. In October 2026, Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) highlighted its successful development into a commercial production platform with a reported capacity of around 30,000 tonnes per year.
From Vegetable Oils to Industrial Products
FIRST2RUN was launched in 2015 to develop a European value chain based on oil-producing crops such as cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), which can grow on marginal agricultural land.
At Porto Torres, vegetable oils are converted through oxidative cleavage into valuable chemical intermediates, particularly azelaic acid and pelargonic acid. These compounds, together with their derivatives, serve applications ranging from biolubricants and cosmetics to polymers and specialty chemicals.
The biorefinery is operated by Matrìca, a joint venture established by Novamont and Versalis, and forms part of the transformation of a former petrochemical complex into a production site for renewable-carbon chemistry.
A European Bioeconomy Success
The original FIRST2RUN project received approximately €17 million in European funding and concluded in 2019. Its industrial development has continued beyond the research phase.
The Porto Torres biorefinery illustrates how European research funding, agricultural resources and existing chemical-industry infrastructure can be combined to establish new biobased value chains.