Stora Enso invests 9 M€ to build a pilot plant for the production of FDCA
Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.
Stora
Enso is investing 9 M€ to build a pilot facility for enabling the
production of biobased plastics as barrier in transparent packaging. The pilot
plant will focus on developing a cost-competitive process for manufacturing furandicarboxylic
acid (FDCA) from sugars. FDCA is a key component of the polyethylene furanoate (PEF).
In addition to its renewable nature, PEF’s attractive barrier, mechanical and
thermal properties open up new packaging opportunities. The new pilot project
will be run by Stora Enso’s Biomaterials division.
Press release: “Stora Enso invests in pilot plant
for bio-based plastic packaging material”, 10/12/2019.
Other posts about FDCA and PEF:
- “FDCA
(2,5-furandicarboxylic acid) biorefineries”, 15/6/2017
- “Avantium
redefines its commercialization strategy of PEF”, 10/6/2019.
- “Novamont
to build a demo plant for the production of FDCA”, 21/10/2019.
Figure 1. FDCA
crystals (taken from the press release)
Location
|
Stora
Enso’s Langerbrugge Mill in Belgium.
This is
one the largest paper mills in Europe, producing 540,000 tons of recycled
newsprint and magazine papers annually. The production is exclusively based
on paper for recycling. The pilot plant investment will not affect the mill’s
paper production.
|
Feedstock
|
The pilot
facility will initially use industrially available fructose.
In the
future, the intention is to run the process on sugars extracted from wood and
other non-food biomasses.
|
Product
|
FDCA (furandicarboxylic
acid).
|
Timeline
|
- The
design and engineering of the pilot facility have started.
- Construction
will begin in the second half of 2020.
- The
plant is estimated to be ready in the first quarter of 2021.
- Decisions
about commercialisation will follow after evaluating the results of the pilot-scale
production.
|
