The three companies plan to form a consortium focused on expediting the industrial-scale production of polyethylene furanoate (PEF), Avantium’s polymer manufactured from plant-based feedstocks.
Known under the name releaf, the polymer is intended for use in fashion and industrial fibres, among others.
The agreement will see Avantium, Tereos and LVMH collaborate to establish a European industrial facility designed to produce PEF and related polymers using Avantium’s proprietary YXY Technology.
This process converts renewable plant-based materials into furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), a key building block for the production of PEF.
The partnership will leverage Tereos’ plant-based feedstock and Avantium’s proprietary YXY technology, with demand to be driven by partners including LVMH Gaïa.
The consortium’s strategy involves not only the establishment of the first industrial-scale PEF facility in Europe, but also the phased expansion of membership by bringing in additional strategic partners.
This approach aims to foster a broader industrial network and strengthen the supply and demand ecosystem for renewable polymers across multiple sectors, including food and beverage packaging, cosmetics, fashion, and industrial fibres.
Avantium CEO Tom van Aken said: “This partnership with LVMH and Tereos is an exciting step in our journey to bring Releaf to market at scale. It builds on our successful existing collaboration and reflects a shared commitment to accelerating the transition to renewable materials.”
This collaboration builds on the existing relationship between the three companies, which was formed under the EU-supported PEFerence consortium.
The PEFerence initiative has focused on promoting the transition from fossil-based to plant-based polyesters, with the goal of reducing the reliance on petrochemical plastics within the European market.
Through this latest agreement, Avantium, Tereos, and LVMH Gaïa aim to progress the commercialisation of plant-based polymers, in line with wider industry and regulatory movements towards circularity and bio-based materials.
Tereos’ involvement aligns with its corporate objective of expanding value chains in green chemistry.
Tereos CEO Olivier Leducq said: “Tereos has made strong commitments for regenerative agriculture and decarbonisation from the field to finished products, which are reflected in our Cultivate Net Zero customer offer. Today, our partnership marks a new step in the development of sustainable solutions for green chemistry markets.”
LVMH Gaïa’s participation supports the broader objectives of LVMH’s LIFE 360 environmental programmes, which target the progressive elimination of fossil-based plastics from its packaging solutions.
LVMH Gaïa president and CEO Claude Martinez added: “Our partnership with Avantium has already demonstrated the potential of renewable materials in luxury packaging. With this new step, we reinforce our LIFE 360 commitments, in particular our ambition to eliminate fossil-based plastics from packaging, while maintaining the highest standards of performance and aesthetics.”
In January this year, Avantium introduced a technology to recycle polycotton textile waste and promote fibre-to-fibre reuse.
