Avantium announced that it has started with the construction of a pilot plant at the Chemelot site (Geleen, the Netherlands). The pilot plant will produce YXY building blocks for making green materials and fuels. Avantium has developed a novel and proprietary catalytic process to convert carbohydrates into furanic building blocks under the brand name YXY. The pilot plant is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2011. The pilot plant marks a major milestone in the commercialization of a new generation of renewable materials and fuels. The pilot plant will demonstrate the breakthrough process developed in Avantium's labs at larger scale. Furthermore, it will produce several tons of YXY building blocks per year to support product development. Avantium is collaborating with industrial partners such as NatureWorks (a subsidiary of Cargill) and Teijin Aramid to develop novel materials on basis of its YXY building blocks. The company expects to use YXY building blocks for the production of green and recyclable materials such as water and soft drink bottles, carpets, textiles, high-performance fibers, coatings and plasticizers. The pilot plant is partly funded by a EUR 1 million grant from the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry had a total budget of EUR 10 million for projects to realize pilot plants for the production of sustainable bio-based products and energy for the European market. To run the pilot plant and to further accelerate the commercialization of YXY, Avantium is raising additional private funding.
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