A New Friend -- PEF
Have you heard of PEF? Perhaps we are more familiar with PET.
Yes, in the field of plastic products, people often compare PET with PEF. Today let us get to know this new friend PEF.
First of all, PEF is a polyester plastic synthesized from ethylene glycol and FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid). It is a material that can replace traditional PET (polyethylene terephthalate). FDCA is the key building block forpolyethylene furanoate (PEF), a 100% plant-based, fully recyclable biopolyester.
So, for what purpose did technology professionals develop this new material? This primarily depends on the several advantages of this product:
1. Superior Gas Barrier Performance:
Compared to PET, it has better gas barrier performance. When comparing gas permeability data (cc/m2·24h·atm), PET's gas permeability is approximately between 2-5, while PEF is 0.5-2. In other words, it retains carbon dioxide in carbonated beverages 5-10 times better than PET, almost like glass, maintaining the freshness of food and extending shelf life. Therefore, PEF has the potential to replace various packaging materials such as PET, glass, or aluminum in typical applications like soft drinks, water, alcoholic beverages, and juice bottles. PEF is expected to be widely used in food packaging due to its superior gas barrier performance, helping to extend the shelf life of food. In this aspect, its function is similar to EVOH.
2. Excellent Sustainability:
PEF plastic has attractive sustainable development qualifications. PEF is made from sugars in corn, wheat, or beets to produce FDCA, 100% plant-based, as it does not use fossil fuels (unlike polyethylene terephthalate or PET). Avantium developed this technology to convert plant sugars into FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid), a key component of PEF (polyethylene furanoate): a high-performance, fully recyclable plant-based polymer. FDCA is polymerized with plant-based monoethylene glycol (MEG) to produce 100% plant-based PEF polymer. In December 2021, Avantium made a positive investment decision to build the world's first FDCA flagship factory in Delfzijl, Netherlands, with plans to complete construction by the end of 2023 and start operations in 2024. The goal is to become the world's first commercial FDCA factory, with a target capacity of 5,000 tons per year. FDCA is a crucial component of 100% plant-based and recyclable polymer PEF.
3. Recyclable, Biodegradable, Eco-Friendly:
PEF has good recyclability, and it can be recycled even when mixed with PET without the need for sorting, allowing for mechanical or chemical recycling. Additionally, it performs excellently in terms of biodegradability; PEF can be made biodegradable through appropriate treatment. Avantium states that the degradation rate of its plant-based material is 100 times faster than PET. This product is designed for recycling, but if it ends up in the natural environment, its degradation rate is much faster than traditional plastics. It can also extend the shelf life of food, contributing to waste reduction.
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4. Outstanding Transparency and Rigidity:
PEF has high transparency, similar to PET, and it also has high stiffness. Comparing tensile modulus (MPa), PET is in the range of 2000-3000, while PEF is approximately 3000-4000, making it 1.5-2 times stiffer than PET. This makes it a good choice for applications with high transparency requirements.
Due to its sustainability and improved physical properties, PEF has attracted increasing attention. It is expected that by early 2024, European supermarkets will have bottles made from PEF. Avantium, a company listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange, raised approximately 28 million euros by issuing 5.2 million new shares and announced an agreement with Belgian plastic packaging supplier Resilux to supply a fixed quantity of PEF resin from the Avantium factory. This has propelled the company's plans forward. It has also signed cooperation agreements for sustainable bottle development with the undisclosed "global major food and beverage brand owner" Toyobo in Japan, specialty polycool film manufacturer Terphane in the United States, and beverage bottling company Refresco in the Netherlands. These transactions build on Avantium's existing plastic bottle projects, collaborating with companies like Coca-Cola, The Absolut Company, and Carlsberg to develop various PEF applications. This collaboration has led to the prototype of a green fiber bottle, reportedly the world's first "paper" beer bottle made from sustainably sourced wood fiber, 100% bio-based and fully recyclable. The Danish beer giant states that collaboration with this project will help its breweries achieve zero carbon emissions and reduce its value chain carbon footprint by 30% by 2030. With these developments, Avantium believes that PEF will be widely introduced to the global market and applied in high-value applications such as single-layer bottles, multi-layer bottles, and films.
However, due to PEF's relatively short development history, there are still some issues that need to be addressed. Currently, compared to traditional PET, PEF's production cost is relatively high, and industrial production scale is small, requiring further development to lower costs. In other words, costs to some extent restrict the production scale of PEF. The current price of PET is approximately 1 euro per kilogram, while the price of PEF is 8-10 euros per kilogram. However, today's end consumers are willing to pay a premium for sustainable products. More research indicates that a significant portion of consumers is fully prepared to spend a few more cents to purchase more sustainable items. With increasing demand for sustainability and environmental friendliness, the application of PEF in the food packaging industry is expected to expand. Technological improvements and the expansion of industrial scale will help lower production costs and enhance competitiveness.
Starting from 2026, Avantium expects to build larger-scale factories in Asia and the United States in the next phase. This means larger production scale and providing more materials at lower costs. Subsequently, this material will compete with all glass packaging, aluminum cans, and many multilayer packaging products seen outside. It can be used for juices and water in the entire soft drink industry, as well as for air-sensitive products such as coffee and meat packaging.
Do you now have a better understanding of PEF? Perhaps you have more points you'd like to discuss with us. We welcome your inquiries.
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