EUR 25 million subsidy granted: Industry Consortium receives funds for polyethylenfuranoate (PEF)

Amsterdam – Synvina announces that a BBI subsidy of EUR 25 million has been granted to the Industry Consortium “PEFerence”. The consortium, consisting of 11 companies including Synvina, Avantium, BASF, a number of reputable industrial companies and iconic brand owners. The partners will jointly work on establishing an innovative supply chain for FDCA and PEF, including the intended construction of a 50,000 tons reference plant in Antwerp.

EUR 25 million subsidy granted: Industry Consortium receives funds for polyethylenfuranoate (PEF)

• European Joint Undertaking on Bio-Based Industries (BBI) awards consortium with 25 million Euro
• Synvina coordinates industry consortium “PEFerence”
• Grant for establishing a complete value chain for the use of bio-based furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) for PEF
• Synvina intends to build a 50,000 tons plant for FDCA

The European Joint Undertaking on Bio-Based Industries (BBI), consisting of representatives from the European Union and the bio-based industry, granted 25 million Euro to “PEFerence”, a consortium of eleven companies. The grant supports the establishment of an innovative value chain for bio-based raw materials as well as chemicals and materials based on polyethylenefuranoate PEF. It includes the intended construction of a 50,000 tons FDCA reference plant, the main chemical building block for the production of PEF. Synvina will be coordinating the “PEFerence” project.
BBI acknowledges the engagement of “PEFerence” for more eco-friendly materials and end products, resulting in substantial benefits for the environment and society. Based on renewable feedstock, products made of PEF will significantly help to replace fossil-based packaging materials and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, following BBI’s assessment. PEF is an innovative polyester suitable for applications such as bottles, films and polyurethanes.
PEF: benefits for environment and society
PEF bottles can be recycled and used again as raw material for bottles, as well as for packaging and textiles. Additionally, PEF offers superior product properties in comparison to conventional polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and provides major advantages for end consumers. Improved barrier properties for gases allow to redefine packaging solutions based on PEF. It also offers a higher mechanical strength, thus thinner PEF packaging can be produced and fewer resources are required. PEF is suitable to produce bottles for carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, foil pouches as well as personal and home care products.

Consortium from raw material producer to brand owner

Besides Synvina and its shareholders BASF and Avantium, the partners in the PEFerence consortium are:

• Tereos Participations (France),
• Alpla Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH & Co Kg (Austria), OMV Machinery Srl (Italy) and Croda Nederland B.V. (The Netherlands),
• Nestec Sa (Switzerland) and Lego System As (Denmark),
• Nova-Institut für politische und ökologische Innovation GmbH (Germany) and Spinverse Innovation Management Oy (Finland).

“The grant of the BBI is a strong signal for Synvina and our partners along the value chain to continue our mutual process to make PEF commercially available”, said Patrick Schiffers, CEO of Synvina, and continued: “To open up a market for a new plastic based on renewable feedstock is a major challenge that we best meet with strong partners and our combined expertise. We share the common goal to get PEF commercially to the market thereby providing the market materials with superior properties and to establish sustainable and bio-based plastic value chains.”