Avantium, a research and development firm based in Amsterdam, is partnering with Group Danone to produce bio-sourced water bottles.
Danone Research and Avantium have entered into a joint development agreement to produce bottles made from polyethylene furanoate – a furanic polyester developed by Avantium to be a 100% bio-based, recyclable alternative to PET.
PEF boasts superior thermal, barrier and light-weighting properties compared to PET, according to Avantium.
Avantium makes PEF using its YXY technology, a catalytic chemical process that converts carbohydrates into bio-based polymers, including an alternative to terephthalic acid.
Using XYX technology, Danone and Avantium will focus on creating renewable materials using feedstocks that do not compete directly with food production. XYX can use a variety of feedstocks like grains, energy crops, lignocellulosic matter, waste streams, waste paper or agricultural residues, Avantium said in a news release.
The firm will continue to produce PEF using renewable feedstock that does not compete with food, they said.
This is the second major partnership for Avantium. In December, Coca-Cola Co. announced it was investing in the firm, and two other companies, in an effort to find a 100% bio-based version of its Plant Bottle.
Avantium currently operates a pilot plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, with the capacity to produce 40 tons of PEF for application development.