Avantium, a leading company in renewable and circular polymer materials, signed a conditional offtake agreement for five years with PLIXXENT, a leading producer of polyurethane systems. Under this offtake agreement, PLIXXENT will purchase FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid), produced in Avantium’s FDCA Flagship Plant, for the use in foams for insulation materials.
Avantium, the Dutch company in renewable and circular polymer materials, signed a capacity reservation agreement with BIOVOX, a pioneer in sustainable healthcare plastics. Under this agreement, BIOVOX has committed to using Avantium’s PEF (polyethylene furanoate) in various pharmaceutical applications. This PEF is expected to be produced in a future industrial-scale facility, based on a technology license from Avantium. The multi-year capacity reservation ensures BIOVOX preferred access to PEF volumes produced by Avantium’s future licensee network.
Helios Resins, a Slovenian based producer of advanced coating- and composite resins, signed a capacity reservation agreement for FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) developed by Avantium, a leading company in renewable and circular polymer materials. FDCA is a raw material whose commercial applications include coating resins, surfactants, polyamides, polyurethanes and the 100% plant-based polymer material PEF (polyethylene furanoate).
Avantium, a Dutch leading technology company in renewable chemistry, and Origin Materials, a leading sustainable materials company based in the USA, joined forces to accelerate the mass production of FDCA and PEF for use in advanced chemicals and plastics. The partnership aims to bring the technology platforms of both companies together in order to produce FDCA from sustainable wood residues on an industrial scale. FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) is the key building block for the biopolymer PEF (polyethylene furanoate) – a 100% plant-based, fully recyclable plastic material, with superior functionality and a significantly reduced carbon footprint compared to conventional plastics. PEF can be used in a wide range of applications such as bottles, packaging, films, fibers and textiles, which represent major end-markets.
Avantium N.V., a leading technology company in renewable chemistry, and Henkel, a global leader of adhesives, sealants and functional coatings, and leading manufacturer of well-known consumer brands, signed an offtake agreement for five years, under which Avantium will supply Henkel with FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) produced in Avantium’s FDCA Flagship Plant, currently under construction in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. Avantium expects to start production at this world’s first commercial facility for the production of FDCA from plant-based sugars in 2024.
Avantium signed a strategic supply agreement with Tereos Cooperative Group, whereby Avantium Renewable Polymers will purchase high fructose syrup made from European wheat as the feedstock for the planned FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) Flagship Plant in Delfzijl. The multi- year agreement secures 100% bio-based and local feedstock for the flagship plant. Avantium’s FDCA Flagship Plant will be the world’s first factory to produce FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) on a commercial scale, with a capacity of 5 kiloton per annum. FDCA is the key building block of the 100% plant-based, recyclable plastic material PEF (polyethylene furanoate) which also has functional advantages compared with fossil fuel derived plastics.
“Avantium is a big story in the bioeconomy, but the relationships with big companies as investors are not easy”. To say it at the Sustainable & Circular Bioeconomy Conference in Brussels on October 22 was Jos Peeters, managing partner, founder and director of Capricorn Venture. Indeed, Avantium and BASF are in a dispute about the future of their Synvina joint venture. The companies disagree on the timing for the fulfilment of the criteria to invest in the commercial-scale plant for FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid).
Synvina, the joint venture between Avantium and BASF, plans to extend the pilot phase in order to optimize future commercial-scale production. The company headquartered in Amsterdam has now completed a broad feasibility assessment for commercial-scale production of FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) in its Reference Plant intended to be built in Antwerp. FDCA is the main building block for the new polymer PEF (polyethylenefuranoate). The assessment looked at product performance, market appetite and technical process.
Tennessee-based Eastman Chemical Company and Origin Materials (formerly known as Micromidas) have entered into a non-exclusive license agreement for Eastman to license its proprietary 2,5-Furandicarboxylic Acid (“FDCA”) and FDCA derivatives production technology from renewable resources to Origin Materials. Origin also recently purchased an oxidation pilot plant from Eastman that will enable Origin to demonstrate the licensed technology. Terms of the license agreement and pilot plant sale were not disclosed.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 