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Peference

PEFerence

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

Project details

Type of project
Innovation Action – Flagship
Project focus
Packaging
Feedstock origin
Agri-food
Feedstock type
Crop residues
Project period
1 September 2017 - 28 February 2025
Status
In progress
CBE JU Contribution
€ 24 999 610
Call identifier
H2020-BBI-JTI-2016

Summary

PEFerence will establish a unique, industrial scale, cost-effective biorefinery flagship plant producing FDCA (furan dicarboxylic acid), a bio-based building block to produce high value products.

Bio-based FDCA can be used to make a wide range of chemicals and polymers such as polyesters, polyamides, coating resins and plasticizers and, crucially, can also be used to make PEF (polyethylene furanoate), a 100% bio-based polyester used to make bottles, films and fibres.

The PEFerence consortium aims to replace a significant share of fossil-based polyesters, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and packaging materials like glass and metal with 100% bio-based furanics polyesters. PEF’s excellent barrier properties and its calculated cost price indicate that it can compete with traditional, multi-million tonne, packaging products such as aluminium cans, multilayer packaging and small size multilayer PET bottles, on price and performance when produced at scale. PEF is sustainable and also completely recyclable.

Other promising materials to be validated in the project include PBF (Polybutylenefuranoate) and FDCA-based polyurethanes.

CBE JU-funded PEFerence beer bottles by Carlsberg
Fully recyclable fibre-based bottles created by the PEFerence project.

 

  • Engineer and build the flagship plant for the production of purified FDCA (5,000 tonnes/year)
  • Demonstrate and validate at least three 100% bio-based materials in end user applications:
  • Commercialize the 100 % bio-based end products demonstrated in the project.
  • Demonstrate and optimize the new local bio-based value chain from raw material sourcing to PEF end products
  • Evaluate the environmental and socio-economic performance of the developed products

PEFerence will have the following impacts:

  • Maximising the use of regional agricultural resources and decreasing dependence on oil imports while increasing added value to the European economy
  • Establishing a new bio-based value chain that will create jobs in rural areas while developing technological know-how and translating it into industrial products
  • Best scenario to have an industrial scale MMF-FDCA plant (>200,000 tonnes/year FDCA) built in Europe
  • Demonstrate new 100% bio-based materials (PEF,PBF and polyurethanes) based on the diacid FDCA
  • Demonstrate cost efficiency and improved properties of PEF compared to PET and focus on applications where PEF brings most value
  • Using PEF, substantially reduce non-renewable energy use and carbon emissions compared to petroleum-based plastics and other materials
  • PEF is 100% recyclable into other PEF applications
  • Reduce food waste and energy consumption of end products and increase the sustainability of coatings, elastomers and adhesives
  • Augment the drive towards bio-based industrial products for global markets and establish FCDA as a versatile furanics building block while developing PEF for packaging applications

Consortium map

Project coordination

  • AVANTIUM CHEMICALS BV Amsterdam, Netherlands

Consortium

  • WORLEY NEDERLAND 'S-Gravenhage (Den Haag), Netherlands
  • GIE LVMH RECHERCHE Saint Jean De Braye, France
  • HENKEL KGaA Dusseldorf, Germany
  • KEBONY NORGE AS Skien, Norway
  • AVANTIUM RENEWABLE POLYMERS BV Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • SPINVERSE OY Espoo, Finland
  • NOVA-INSTITUT FUR POLITISCHE UND OKOLOGISCHE INNOVATION GMBH Hurth, Germany
  • AVANTIUM SUPPORT BV Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • TEREOS STARCH & SWEETENERS EUROPE Marckolsheim, France
  • TEREOS PARTICIPATIONS Origny Sainte-Benoite, France
  • LEGO SYSTEM AS Billund, Denmark
  • KRONENBOURG Obernai, France
  • NESTLE WATERS MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY SA Issy-Les-Moulineaux, France
  • WORLEY BELGIE Antwerpen, Belgium
  • CARLSBERG BREWERIES AS KOBENHAVNS, Denmark
  • ROSENBERG WORLEY HUNDVAG STAVANGER, Norway
  • OMV MACHINERY SRL Verona, Italy
  • KEBONY AS Oslo, Norway
  • SOCIETE DES PRODUITS NESTLE SA Vevey, Switzerland
Former member
  • INTECSEA B.V. Delft, Netherlands
  • BASF SE Ludwigshafen Am Rhein, Germany
  • ALPLA WERKE ALWIN LEHNER GMBH & COKG Hard, Austria
  • SYNVINA CV Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • CARGILL BIOINDUSTRIAL B.V. Gouda, Netherlands