Avantium is a chemical technology company and a forerunner in renewable chemistry. Together with its partners around the world, Avantium develops efficient processes and sustainable products made from bio-based materials. Avantium offers a breeding ground for revolutionary renewable chemistry solutions. From invention to commercially viable production processes. 

Following a spin-out from Royal Dutch Shell in 2000, Avantium was founded with the singular purpose of using advanced catalysis to transform the world of R&D. Today the company is specialized in innovations and technologies for catalytic R&D services and systems. 

As its first objective, the company decided to pursue green materials in the area of plastics, since they represent a short-term, high-value opportunity with an excellent fit with existing, large-scale chemical production plants. Especially the replacement of PET by PEF is pursued. Avantium has constructed a pilot plant at the Chemelot site in Geleen, The Netherlands, which has been in operation since the fall of 2011. 

Avantium targets its development on HMF and FDCA, a next-generation chemical building blocks (furanics) for the green economy, produced from carbohydrates through chemical catalysis. HMF has the potential to produce a range of polymers, green materials, chemicals and plasticizers. Avantium has found a breakthrough technology for the cost-effective production of FDCA, competing fossil equivalents on cost-prices. The YXY technology platform helps us produce a wide range of novel materials and products, all 100% biobased, by converting plant-based sugars into chemical building blocks, like Furanics and Levulinics, for plastics and other applications.  

Avantium and BASF have formed a new joint venture (JV) named Synvina for the production and marketing of the renewable chemical building block FDCA, as well as marketing of PEF. The joint venture intends to use the YXY process technology to solidify its world-leading positions in FDCA and PEF, and subsequently license the YXY technology for industrial scale applications. Synvina coordinates the “PEFerence” BBI JU project which received a grant of 25 million Euro for 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, at the BASF Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium. 

Avantium is partner in several BBI JU projects: 

BIOFOREVER - BIO-based products from FORestry via Economically Viable European Routes 

ECOXY - Bio-based recyclable, reshapable and repairable (3R) fibre-reinforced EpOXY composites for automotive and construction sectors 

PEFerence - From bio-based feedstocks via di-acids to multiple advanced bio-based materials with a preference for polyethylene furanoate 

ReSolve - REnewable SOLVEnts with high performance in application and improved toxicity profile 

Zelcor - Zero Waste Lingo-Cellulosic Biorefineries by Integrated Lignin Valorisation.