Renewable feedstocks that tackle our CO2-emissions, or better absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, are prompted to fill the gap between ever-growing plastic demand and the limited available recycled plastic supply. Supporting this, Avantium, a disrupter in renewable chemistry, develops and commercializes fossil-free chemical building blocks to accelerate the transition to a renewable and circular economy. Our most advanced technology converts plant-based sugars into furandicarboxylacid (FDCA), the building block of the plant-based polyester PEF, PolyEthyleneFuranoate. 

PEF has superior CO2 and oxygen barrier properties compared to today’s widely used petroleum-based packaging materials, enabling a reduction of material usage, contributing to longer shelf life and increasing recyclability of packaging solutions by offering mono material solutions. PEF can be processed into rigid and flexible packaging solutions using existing PET assets and can also be recycled in existing PET recycling assets. Avantium’s PEF has interim endorsement by the European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP) to enter the EU PET bottle recycling stream. In the United States, Association of Plastics Recyclers (APR) has formally recognized the recyclability of Avantium’s PEF multilayer bottles containing up to 10% of PEF in the clear PET recycling stream.

In 2024 Avantium will open its first commercial Flagship Plant facility producing 5-kiloton of 100% plant-based PEF. Meanwhile, Avantium is spearheading towards the industrialization of PEF at 100-kiloton scale through its licensing strategy. The first licensee to date to industrialize the production of PEF is Origin Materials, a like-minded frontrunner in the transition to sustainable materials, based in the USA. 

Bullet Points:

• Alternative Materials
• Industrial partnership for biobased high-performance polyesters
• PEF polyester for plant-based packaging
• Enhanced barrier performance with all polyester solutions