TAGS: Sustainability / Natural Coatings
Avantium, a company in renewable and circular polymer materials, announces that Helios Resins, a Slovenian based producer of advanced coating- and composite resins, signs a capacity reservation agreement for FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) developed by Avantium.
FDCA is a raw material whose commercial applications include coating resins, surfactants, polyamides, polyurethanes and the 100% plant-based polymer material PEF (polyethylene furanoate).
Commitment to Sustainable Solutions
Helios Resins intends to purchase FDCA from a future industrial-scale facility, based on a technology license from Avantium. Avantium’s business model is to sell technology licenses enabling industrial partners to build industrial-scale production facilities of (over) 100 kilo tonnes per annum, utilizing Avantium’s YXY® Technology for the production of FDCA and PEF.
Helios Resins is committed to sustainable technologies and solutions for its coating- and composite resins used for, amongst others, transport, construction and industrial applications. Providing alternatives to conventional fossil-derived materials is one of the strategic goals of Helios Resins, therefore investing in the R&D of new bio-based resins produced from plant-based monomers.
Avantium has already entered into its first licensing agreement and has the ambition to sell multiple technology licenses in the coming years. This capacity reservation signed by Helios Resins underpins the commercial momentum of such technology licensing agreements and the demand for FDCA.
Avantium has developed a proprietary process technology to produce FDCA and is currently nearing completion of the construction of the world’s first commercial FDCA plant in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. The FDCA flagship plant will serve as a stepping stone for Avantium's licensing strategy.
Avantium will sell FDCA and PEF directly from its FDCA flagship plant to its customers, in parallel to selling technology licenses to industrial partners.
Aiming to Replace Petro-based Terephthalic Acid
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Helios Resins strongly believes that meeting today’s needs has to be done without compromising the needs of future generations. One of our objectives is to partially or fully replace petro-based terephthalic acid, the key building block for polyester resins, with FDCA,” said Dr. Martin Ocepek, director R&D Synthetic Resins of Helios Resins.
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This capacity reservation for FDCA developed by Avantium provides assurance that we can use FDCA widely in the future for our resins and coatings,” added Dr. Ocepek.
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We are pleased that Helios Resins has signed a capacity reservation for FDCA developed through our YXY® Technology. This is a clear demonstration of the commercial traction of FDCA and underpins our strategy towards the technology licensing of our FDCA technology,” said Bineke Posthumus, director, Business Development of Avantium.
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It furthermore showcases how several companies in the materials industry will work together to make progress in the transition to renewable, circular materials,” added Posthumus.
Source: Avantium