The EGgPLANT project will scale up in a demonstration plant a novel method to produce monoethylene glycol (MEG) from renewable carbohydrates using a highly carbon efficient catalytic process. The global MEG market demand is growing from a current base of 30 Mton/year to over 50 Mton by 2035, requiring more than a million tons of additional supply every year for the next twenty years. Today, almost all of the MEG produced globally is from fossil sources despite a stated need from forward-looking brand owners, packaging and textile companies to source MEG from renewable sources. There is one provider of bio-based MEG on the market which is using an inefficient and expensive process compared to lower cost oil, shale gas, and coal-based alternatives. This high cost position is hampering the widespread use of bio-based MEG. To address this issue, Avantium has developed a one-step ‘Mekong’ process for producing bio-MEG from renewable sources which can compete with the incumbent fossil-based product on both cost and quality, making the product competitive in the global marketplace and poised to be a sustainable supply solution to address the increasing demand. The demonstration plant (11 ton/year) built and operated in this project allows for techno-economic scale-up and evaluation of the process, in addition to producing relevant sample quantities of product to support downstream validation in at least three applications, collecting of data to conduct a third-party environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA) and preparation for scale-up to industrial size plants. The next phase after this project is to deploy a 200 kton/year Mekong flagship plant with a strategic partner in Europe. Target customers of this flagship plant will primarily be European polyethylene terephthalate (PET) producers. Avantium and the strategic partner will deploy subsequent industrial scale plants in Europe, and will license out the technology to parties in geographies other than Europe.

The ReTAPP project aims at producing wood-based fructose for production of plastic bottles and all plastic packaging. The ReTAPP project will generate fructose from wood to commercial process as a replacement for food/starch based fructose. The fructose is further converted to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) – a chemical that can be used to produce a biobased polymer, Polyethylene Furanoate (PEF). Ultimately, ReTAPP will make it possible to make the plastics from wood – a solution not just sustainable and 100% renewable, but also technically and economically superior to the technologies and materials used today. In ReTAPP, the consortium will improve the processes through enzymatic solutions to positively impact quality, performance and economics: In the end, the wood-based fructose must be better than food-based fructose for further in chemical conversion in industrial scale. Even more importantly, the overall process, including but not limited to the fructose conversion, is also made economically more sustainable than the petroleum or the food-based solutions. Ultimately, the 100% renewable packaging is more affordable and has better qualities, such as barrier properties, than the most common thermoplastic resin: polyethylene terephthalate (PET). ReTAPP enables the collaboration between consortium members to address the entire value-chain and achieve objectives none of the companies could achieve alone. European competitive advantage can be found in strength of collaboration between masters of their field, such as MetGen, SEKAB and Avantium.

The HUGS concept ( HUmins as Green and Sustainable precursors of eco-friendly materials and biofuels) discloses an integrated multidisciplinary EID proposal with involvement of high-tech SME’s two research centers and 3 world class universities in the area of biorefinery. All partners have been chosen by their complementary expertise and their extensive experience in supervising PhD programs and coordinating international scientific projects. The proposed methodology and approach focuses on side-stream valorization of FDCA/PEF polyester production process developed by Avantium. HUGS aims to provide breakthrough knowledge combined with an excelling training program on humin by-products by implementing work packages which will respectively focus on side streams to building blocks; building blocks to composites; safety and toxicity aspects; training and dissemination activities and management, communication and public engagement. 5 PhD are envisaged to be recruited to reach these ambitious goals with regards to multidisciplinary training and beyond stateof-the-art research. Each PhD will be seconded at the company as well as between the collaborating universities aiming to develop a number of essential leadership, entrepreneurial, communication and scientific skills in program fellows. All partners will organize week-long dedicated training courses in their field of expertise (homo- & heterogeneous catalysis, physico-chemical polymer analyses, toxicity and safety, IPR, techno-economic evaluation) over the total duration of the project. The proposed research is novel and highly original which will justify scientific publications in top-ranked journals together with a unique training program. PEF is unique in being the first technical superior and 100% biobased plastic to come to the market. The HUGS project as being closely linked to PEF commercialization which it will guarantee maximal exploitation of the results, communication and public engagement.