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Avantium PEF

Avantium PEF is a 100% plant-based, recyclable and degradable polymer with a wide range of applications such as packaging, textiles, film, and many more. PEF has a powerful combination of environmental features and superior functionality. It shows improved barrier properties for carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen, leading to a longer shelf life of packaged products. It also offers higher mechanical strength, which means that thinner PEF packaging can be produced and fewer resources are required. In combination with the plant-based feedstock, these added functionalities give PEF all the attributes required to become the next-generation polyester.

Polymer Name: Polyethylene Furanoate (PEF)

Labeling Claims: Bio-based, Biodegradable, Plant-Based, Recyclable

    Knowde Enhanced TDS

    Identification & Functionality

    Technologies

    Features & Benefits

    Superior Barrier Properties
    • PEF’s oxygen barrier is 10 times better than PET
    • PEF’s CO2 barrier is 6 to 10 times better than PET
    • PEF’s water barrier is twice as good as PET’s
    Features

    Renewable: PEF is plant-based instead of fossil-based and has a 50-70% lower carbon footprint (source: Copernicus Institute at the University of Utrecht (Eerhart et al. 2012)

    Reduce: PEF is superior allowing light weighting by more than 20% in line with European legislation

    Reuse: PEF in combination with PET allows PET bottles to be reused by up to 5x more

    Recycle: PEF has a proven fit with existing sorting and recycling facilities and can substitute small and multi-layer packaging that cannot be recycled

    Degradable:

    When PEF unintentionally ends up in nature, tests show that:

    • Degradation tests show that PEF degrades much faster than PET under industrial composting conditions (250-400 days with  air / oxygen @ 58°C in soil) (source: Accelerated study by OWS, Gent, Belgium (2019)
    • Initial results from ongoing 10-year degradability field trial demonstrate that PEF degrades under ambient conditions (trial by Avantium and University of Amsterdam)

    Applications & Uses

    Plastics & Elastomers End Uses
    High-Value Applications

    Multilayer bottles :- PEF as barrier layer providing performance and enabling recycling.

    Single layer bottles :- Single layer PEF in small bottles for soft drinks, beer and juice, replacing glass bottles, aluminum cans and  multilayer bottles, enabling closed-loop recycling.

    Film :- PEF film in recyclable flexible packaging or as film used in electronics applications (e.g. displays).

    Technical Details & Test Data

    More Attractive Thermal Properties
    • The Tg (glass transition temperature) of PEF is 86°C compared to the Tg of PET of 74°C
    • The Tm (melting point) of PEF is 235°C compared to the Tm of PET of 265°C