Avantium’s Delfzijl facility takes an important step towards bio-based plastics.
Avantium has produced the first batch of FDCA (2,5-furandicarboxylic acid) at its new flagship plant in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. With a design capacity of 5,000 tonnes per year, it is the world’s first commercial-scale plant dedicated to FDCA production.
FDCA is produced from plant-derived sugars and can replace fossil-based terephthalic acid (TPA) as a building block for polyesters. Combined with ethylene glycol, it forms PEF (polyethylene furanoate), a bio-based polyester for applications including bottles, packaging films and fibres.
The potential market is substantial: European PET production is around 4.5 million tonnes per year. FDCA/PEF will not replace this volume in the foreseeable future, but the Delfzijl plant demonstrates an alternative route from renewable carbon to an important class of polymer materials.
The plant is currently in its start-up and product-qualification phase. Further batches and process optimisation will precede continuous operation, with first commercial sales expected towards the end of 2026.
The project has received substantial European support and represents an important scale-up step from European research and pilot development towards industrial biomanufacturing.
Source: Avantium, 28 September 2026; Avantium Annual Report 2025; PlasticsEurope 2025.
