A €25m EU project, PEFerence, was officially launched on Wednesday (20 September) to establish an innovative value chain for 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) and polyethylene furanoate (PEF).

The PEFerence project is based in in Geleen, the Netherlands, and began in September.

The consortium consists of 11 companies from eight countries including Synvina, Avantium, BASF, Tereos Participants, Alpla Werke Alwin Lehner, OMV Machinery, Croda Nederland, Nestec, Lego System, nova-Institut für politische und ökologische Innovation, and Spinverse Innovation Management.

The partners will be collaborating on the intended construction of a 50,000 tonne reference plant in Antwerp, amongst other things.

As background, FDCA is the essential chemical building block to produce PEF. Compared to conventional plastics, PEF is characterised by improved barrier properties for gases like carbon dioxide and oxygen. This can lead to longer shelf life of packaged products.

Due to its higher mechanical strength, thinner PEF packaging can be produced, thus a lower amount of packaging material is necessary.

Therefore, PEF is particularly suitable for the production of certain food and drink packaging. After use, PEF can be recycled.

PEFerence has received funding from the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

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