Furandicarboxylic Acid (FDCA), A Versatile Building Block for a Very Interesting Class of Polyesters

Avantium (www.avantium.com) is developing a next generation bioplastics based on 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), called "YXY building blocks", which can be produced on the basis of sugars and other, non-food, carbohydrates. Avantium aims to replace oil-based polyesters (such as PET) with Furanics polyesters (such as PEF) in a wide range of applications, including bottles and carpets. The excellent barrier properties, significant reductions in non renewable energy usage and green house gas emissions as well as the calculated cost price indicates that PEF can compete with traditional PET regarding price, performance as well as sustainability issues.