Avantium and SCGC Partner to Scale-Up CO2- Based Polymers to Pilot Plant
SCGC will use Avantium’s Volta Technology which uses electrochemistry to convert CO2 to chemical building blocks such as glycolic acid which combined with lactic acid make carbon-negative PLGA.
Avantium, the Amsterdam-based technology company in renewable chemistry, has partnered with Thailand’s SCGC, a leading Asian integrated supplier of PE, PP, PV, green polymer, bioplastics and specialty compounds, to further develop CO2-based polymers and to scale-up to a pilot plant with an annual capacity of 23,000 lbs (10 m.t.).
At the center of this partnership is one of Avantium’s innovative technology platforms--Volta Technology, which, uses electrochemistry to convert CO2 to high-value products and chemical building blocks including glycolic acid. By combining glycolic acid with lactic acid, Avantium can produce polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), a carbon-negative biopolymer with valuable characteristics. PLGA boasts excellent barrier against oxygen and moisture, good mechanical properties and is recyclable as well as home compostable and marine degradable.
Since early 2023, Avantium and SCGC have been working together to further evaluate PLGA. To this end, Avantium has produced samples of different PLGAs, which have been evaluated at SCGC’s Norner AS facility. The two parties have now agreed to take the next step in their cooperation and establish a Joint Development Agreement. Under this agreement, Avantium and SCGC intend to further evaluate PLGA in order to subsequently scale up production of glycolic acid monomer and PLGA polyester in the next two years to a pilot plant. Said Suracha Udomsak, SCGC’s chief innovation officer and executive v.p., “Over the past months, SCGC has assessed PLGA samples and we are impressed with the sustainability and performance characteristics of this innovative material. We look forward to working together with Avantium in the years to come.”
Said Avantium CEO Tom van Aken, “Under this partnership, we can further develop the very promising carbon-negative plastic PLGA and bring this material to the next commercialization phase. He also noted that both Avantium and SCGC would welcome other strategic and complementary partners to participate in this collaboration.
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