BASF
Joint venture with Avantium for FDCA and PEF / Synvina to develop markets for PEF films and bottles / Technology to be licensed
Following the signing of a letter of intent in March, BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) has formed a joint venture with Dutch renewables company Avantium (Amsterdam; www.avantium.com) to commercialise new polymer polyethylenefuranoate (PEF) and its bio-based feedstock furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) – see Plasteurope.com of 21.03.2016.
Called Synvina and headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the JV will invest a “mid-three-digit million euro sum” to build a 50,000 t/y FDCA reference plant at BASF’s Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium. The plant will use Avantium’s fructose-based YSY technology, which will also be licensed for industrial-scale production.
FDCA is considered to be a promising building block chemical for various downstream products, including polyester PEF which has applications in food and drinks packaging as well as carpet and textile fibres. In addition, FDCA can be processed to polyamides for engineering plastics and fibres, to polyurethanes for foams, coatings and adhesives, and to esters for personal care products and lubricants.
The goal of the collaboration is to develop a complete supply chain for PEF as a sustainable bio-based packaging material. Avantium has previously entered into agreements with Japanese companies Toyobo (Osaka; www.toyobo-global.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 14.09.2016 – and Mitsui (Tokyo; www.mitsuichem.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 16.12.2015. Synvina will continue to progress these, as well as the development partnerships with Coca Cola, Danone and Alpla for PEF bottles.
Stefan Blank, president of BASF’s Intermediates division, said Synvina had an excellent starting position from which to build a globally leading role in FDCA and PEF.
Avantium’s CEO, Tom van Aken, described FDCA as a “sleeping giant with huge potential”, explaining that although first produced in the 1950s, the chemical has never been successfully developed and commercialised until now. “I strongly believe that Synvina will wake up that sleeping giant and make it available for industrial use. With the development of a proven FDCA production process and the construction of a strong partnering and cooperation network, Avantium has provided Synvina with all necessary prerequisites,” he commented.
Called Synvina and headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the JV will invest a “mid-three-digit million euro sum” to build a 50,000 t/y FDCA reference plant at BASF’s Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium. The plant will use Avantium’s fructose-based YSY technology, which will also be licensed for industrial-scale production.
FDCA is considered to be a promising building block chemical for various downstream products, including polyester PEF which has applications in food and drinks packaging as well as carpet and textile fibres. In addition, FDCA can be processed to polyamides for engineering plastics and fibres, to polyurethanes for foams, coatings and adhesives, and to esters for personal care products and lubricants.
The goal of the collaboration is to develop a complete supply chain for PEF as a sustainable bio-based packaging material. Avantium has previously entered into agreements with Japanese companies Toyobo (Osaka; www.toyobo-global.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 14.09.2016 – and Mitsui (Tokyo; www.mitsuichem.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 16.12.2015. Synvina will continue to progress these, as well as the development partnerships with Coca Cola, Danone and Alpla for PEF bottles.
Stefan Blank, president of BASF’s Intermediates division, said Synvina had an excellent starting position from which to build a globally leading role in FDCA and PEF.
Avantium’s CEO, Tom van Aken, described FDCA as a “sleeping giant with huge potential”, explaining that although first produced in the 1950s, the chemical has never been successfully developed and commercialised until now. “I strongly believe that Synvina will wake up that sleeping giant and make it available for industrial use. With the development of a proven FDCA production process and the construction of a strong partnering and cooperation network, Avantium has provided Synvina with all necessary prerequisites,” he commented.
11.10.2016 Plasteurope.com [235273-0]
Published on 11.10.2016
German version of this article...