Avantium and Sukano sign offtake agreement to develop masterbatches for PEF
Avantium N.V. announces that it has signed a conditional offtake agreement with Sukano AG, producing masterbatches for PEF. The masterbatches are tailored to impart properties to plastics and as such are an effective way to diversify and expand polymer applications. With PEF from Avantium’s FDCA Flagship Plant, Sukano will develop masterbatches for PEF resins, facilitating fast adoption in many diversified markets and thus accelerating the growth of PEF.
Avantium recently announced that it has started the construction of the world’s first commercial plant for the production of FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) from plant-based sugars. FDCA is the key ingredient for making the sustainable, circular and high-performance plastic material PEF (polyethylene furanoate). Avantium expects that construction of this FDCA Flagship Plant is completed by the end of 2023, enabling the commercial launch of PEF from 2024 onwards.
In 2021, Avantium generated offtake commitments for half of the Flagship Plant’s capacity. Sukano and Avantium have joined efforts in the development of antiblock masterbatches for PEF-film applications. To this end, Sukano and Avantium have conducted comprehensive lab trials in Sukano’s in-house R&D laboratory, producing biaxially oriented PEF films for packaging applications. The collaborative development work has resulted in two prototype masterbatches capable of providing antiblock performance of the surface of biaxially oriented PEF film. Both developed antiblock masterbatches offer a significant friction reduction without interfering with the performance of the stretched PEF films. The availability of antiblock masterbatches opens the possibility to further develop PEF and PEF-based films at (pre-)industrial scale equipment.
