Source: Press release Avantium

Biobased technology
The Netherlands based technology company Avantium N.V. announced on August 26th that it has been awarded €6 million as part of a SPIRE grant to accelerate its Dawn and Mekong technologies in addition to utilizing its expertise in Catalysis. SPIRE, part of Horizon2020, is the European subsidy programme to facilitate the region’s Sustainable Process Industry. Avantium will participate in a 4-year research programme entitled IMPRESS starting in September 2019. Avantium will lead the IMPRESS consortium consisting of ten industry and academic organisations across Europe. The consortium received a total SPIRE grant of €13 million.

Avantium
Avantium is a forerunner in developing and commercializing innovative technologies for the production of plant-based chemicals and materials. In its Renewable Chemistry business, the company is scaling up its new biorefinery process called Dawn and a novel catalytic process for plant-based MEG (mono-ethylene glycol, an ingredient for green plastic PEF) called Mekong. The IMPRESS consortium aims to demonstrate a new biorefinery concept based on integrating novel processes such as Avantium’s Dawn and Mekong technologies for the first time. It also intends to develop new separation and purification methods.

Dawn and Mekong
Avantium’s Dawn Technology™ converts non-food plant-based feedstock into industrial sugars and lignin. The Mekong technology converts these industrial sugars into plant-based MEG. Together, these processes enable the production of nature derived polyesters and supports the transition of the chemicals and materials industries to non-fossil resources. The integration of Dawn Technology™ with the production of plant-based MEG by the Mekong technology will be further improved by using the advanced high throughput R&D systems of Avantium Catalysis. The objective is to create a value chain starting from non-edible biomass to renewable chemicals and materials that meets both economic and sustainability criteria.

European consortium with IRCELYON
In addition to Avantium, the IMPRESS consortium consists of nine leading companies and knowledge institutes across Europe: Sulzer (CH), Knauer (DE), IRCELYON (CNRS, Claude Bernard Lyon 1 university, FR), Lenntech (NL), Vogelbusch Biocommodities (AT), PDC (Process Design Centre, NL), Thinkstep (DE), Aalto University (FI) and South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk, FI).