With energy resources dwindling and "sustainability" becoming a must-have word in the lexicon of almost every company in the developed world, the debate over the use of cleaner materials is intensifying, especially when it comes to plastic. Some claim the "war on plastic" is unjustified, with people to blame for pollution rather than the material itself, while others argue that taking simple steps to replace traditional plastics with more natural biological substitutes would cut back on carbon emissions drastically. One such company is the Italian firm Novamont, whose starch-based Mater-Bi bio

Azimut Yachts, with a boat making factory at Avigliana, in the province of Turin, is Italy's premiere builder of yachts and megayachts, some of which total 30 meters (70 feet) in length. Founded in 1969, Azimut Yachts was originally a boat chartering service run by a young university student, Paolo Vitelli, with a passion for sailing. In 1970, the fledgling firm was doing so well that prestigious yachting brands began to appoint Azimut as their main boat distributor in Italy, and soon after, the company began designing its own yachts. In a joint venture with Amerglass, Azimut designed the AZ43

Though not the flashiest Italian car manufacturer, automotive firm Fiat has long been a staple of the country's industrial sector, providing vehicles to a wider mass market than its local brethren: —the Ferraris, Maseratis and Lamborghinis that cater only to the elite. As such, the firm's research and development center, with a main base in Orbassano, Turin, is constantly thinking up ways to reinvent its automotive products in cost effective ways, from their physical design to their fuel efficiency, safety features and beyond. Established in 1978 as the Fiat Group reference center for

Nothing but pasta could possibly be more representative of Italian sumptuousness than Ferrari, the sexy luxury race car brand that made its debut in 1947 with the 125S, produced in Maranello, Italy, and bearing the Ferrari trademark. Maranello, near the city of Modena, has been Ferrari’s home from the firm’s inception, and the main museum dedicated to the firm’s famous fast cars, as well as its assembly line and various factories are all situated there.The Ferrari museum, opened just more than a year after Enzo Ferrari’s death in 1990, gets over 200,000 visitors a year from all corners of the

Plastic may not be the most beloved of materials to the more environmentally minded, but Plast 2012, a Milan, Italy-based show held last week, aimed to mold a different opinion of the material in people's minds. "Plastic is a huge and innovating world," said Mario Maggiani, director at Assocomaplast, the association of Italian plastics and rubber machinery producers. Those innovations include processes like injection molding, extrusion of film, blow molding, and rotational molding, though the real steps forward are arguably being taken in material composition. "Biomaterials are becoming big in