ADM and DuPont open a FDME pilot plant in Illinois
Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.
FDME (Furan Dicarboxylic Methyl Ester) is a new
biobased chemical building block with potential to replace petroleum-based
materials. Archer
Daniels Midland Company (ADM) and DuPont Industrial Biosciences (DuPont) unveiled a
breakthrough process to produce this molecule in 2016.
More details in this blog post: “FDME and PTF – Emerging stars on the
bioplastics horizon”,
31/8/2017.
The companies aim to bring this game-changing
technology to commercial scale as quickly as possible. As a relevant milestone
to achieve that final goal, the companies have just announced the opening of
the world’s first FDME pilot production facility in Decatur (Illinois, USA).
The plant is the centerpiece of a long-standing collaboration that will help
bring a greater variety of sustainably sourced biomaterials into the lives of
consumers (see press release, 30/4/2018). According to previous
information, the capacity of the plant is 60 ton/y.
Figure 1. FDME pilot plant (extracted from the
press release)
One of the first FDME-based polymers under
development by DuPont is polytrimethylene furandicarboxyate (PTF). Research shows that PTF has up to 10-15 times the CO2
barrier performance of traditional PET plastic. In this way, for
packaging applications, it could be used to create plastic bottles that are
lighter-weight, more sustainable and better performing.