Invest-NL to invest in new Avantium plant

The financing will enable the construction of a new plant in Delfzijl (Groningen) for the further development and commercialisation of Avantium’s sustainable plastic polyethylene furanoate (‘PEF’). Avantium expects the plant to be operational in 2024.

Reaching this milestone is a decisive moment in Avantium’s evolution and will accelerate the commercialisation of PEF. Avantium’s flagship FDCA plant will be the world’s first plant to produce FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) on a commercial scale, with a capacity of 5 kilotonnes per year. FDCA is the main building block of the 100% plant-based recyclable plastic PEF, which also has functional advantages over plastics made from petroleum.

Avantium believes that the commercial FDCA plant, in addition to generating revenues and profits from the sale of products from the plant, will demonstrate the potential for large-scale production and use of PEF to consumers, customers and partners. This should pave the way for a massive expansion of PEF’s applications, with a potential total end market of $ 200 billion per year, which Avantium plans to access by selling technology licences to industrial companies worldwide.

Tom van Aken, CEO of Avantium:“The investment decision to build the world’s first commercial FDCA production plant has been a key milestone for Avantium. FDCA is the main building block of the new 100% plant-based recyclable plastic material PEF, which represents huge market potential for replacing and increasing the sustainability of fossil plastics and conventional packaging. We could not have made this decision without the loan provided by Invest-NL and a consortium of banks. Invest-NL has played a crucial role in raising this funding. It is good to see Invest-NL supporting an innovative company like Avantium, which is developing new, ground-breaking plastics technology, and enabling it to scale up and commercialise this sustainable product.”

Wouter Bos, CEO of Invest-NL, is enthusiastic about the investment:“Invest-NL is proud to financially support Avantium, together with four Dutch banks. The funding provided by this group of Dutch financial institutions illustrates how we can jointly respond to the capital requirements of innovative and sustainable companies. It also genuinely proves that it is in fact possible to invest in green, disruptive technologies. With this investment, Invest-NL has committed itself to Avantium’s ambitious mission to market the innovative, sustainable plastic PEF, which will make a major contribution to the future of our planet.”