Shareholders of Avantium (Amsterdam; www.avantium.com) have finally given the green light for the world’s first FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) plant in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. The financial details are expected to be complete before Q2 2022, after which the construction is likely to commence and finish by the end of 2023, with the plant set to be operational in 2024. The commercial launch of PEF (polyethylenefuranoate) – the replacement product for petroleum-based PET – is scheduled for the same year.

According to the Dutch firm, approval was also granted for the “authorisation to the management board to issue 2.84 mn warrants to a consortium of banks as part of the EUR 90 mn debt financing package, and for the board to issue EUR 45 mn in ordinary shares”.

At the start of 2020, Avantium had declared that the planned FDCA plant would end up being smaller than intended, with a final capacity of 5,000 t/y, as Avantium told Plasteurope.com (see Plasteurope.com of 14.01.2020). However, due to coronavirus-related complications, the construction has since suffered delays (see Plasteurope.com of 31.03.2021).

FDCA is the main chemical building block for plant-based PEF, which can be used in drinks bottles, food packaging, and textiles, and be processed by existing recycling systems.