Under the HICCUPS programme, Avantium will convert CO2 from biogas produced by wastewater treatment plants into the sustainable plastic material PLGA (polylactic-co-glycolic acid). It will use one of Avantium’s innovative technology platform Volta Technology. That uses electrochemistry to convert CO2 into high-quality chemical building blocks and polyesters.
PLGA with 80% glycolic acid or more has an excellent barrier to oxygen and moisture and good mechanical properties. It is also recyclable and both home compostable and marine degradable. PLGA can be used, for example, as a coating material and in moulded plastic materials. This makes PLGA an excellent alternative to fossil polyethylene.
The €1.5 million grant will be paid out in tranches over a four-year period from September 2023. In total, the HICCUPS programme will receive €5 million EU Horizon Europe grant to demonstrate the full value chain from biogenic CO2 to polyester end-use. The consortium consists of Avantium (leader) and 11 other industrial and academic organisations: Funditec (Spain), University of Amsterdam (Netherlands), INRAE (France), ACCIONA (Spain), Nova Institut (Germany), VTT (Finland), University of Ferrara (Italy), Tecnopackaging (Spain), Aqualung (Norway), SINTEF (Norway) and Walki (Finland).
The project is funded by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking under the EU’s Horizon Europe funding programme.
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