Today we celebrate planet Earth and reflect on the fact that its future is in our hands. We are at a point when we must make a real change. Although our individual efforts like switching  the lights off when leaving the room or not letting the water run from the faucet add up to make a difference, we live in times when science and innovation need to work together to deliver complex solutions and resolve global problems such as carbon emissions, exhaustion of resources, and over-pollution.

Climate change is undeniable and a direct result of human activity. Our ambition at Avantium is a fossil-free world. We believe in moving beyond the finite energy buried in the Earth towards the infinite energy that surrounds us. In our sustainability plan Chain Reaction 2030, we have set ten goals that we aim to achieve no later than 2030 in order to create environmental, societal, and financial sustainability.

Sustainable Technologies

The continued use of coal, oil, and natural gas is disturbing the Earth’s natural way of maintaining a carbon balance. Here at Avantium, we want to help to restore this balance by delivering 1.5 million tonnes of CO₂ savings by 2030. We aim to do this by improving the efficiency of existing processes and inventing new technologies for the chemical industry.

Our contribution to CO₂ savings is already manifested through the development and scaling up of our existing YXY® plants-to-plastics, RAY (plantMEG^TM), and Volta (electrocatalytic conversion of CO₂) technologies. To measure our progress, we will use Life Cycle Analysis for each technology to confirm the reduction in environmental impact and to estimate the impact of scaled-up technologies for each plant built under our licenses. We will also quantify the CO₂ reduction of our Catalysis business unit in supporting customer efficiency via accelerated R&D.  We look forward to the day our sustainable technologies are adopted around the world. 

Circular Business

Today, fossil resources are used to make products that we use and most of the time we throw them away when we no longer want them. With population growth and demand for products increasing every year, we must consider starting with more sustainable and renewable resources.

The objective of a circular economy is to create the highest possible value for the longest possible time while consuming the smallest amount of resource. At Avantium, we want to become a circular business by 2030. We will tackle the circularity challenge by designing products that are durable and recyclable. Our new-to-the-world technologies start with renewable carbon to produce sustainable products where the entire product lifecycle is considered and systems for circularity can be designed. We will also carefully evaluate and select all our partners to fit within this paradigm. 

Our novel PEF product addresses specific needs in the value chain – it is renewable, fit for reuse or recycle, degradable, and can be used in 20% less quantity without compromising on quality. We aim to put even more focus on all our new technologies contributing positively towards the circular economy. Moreover, our desire is to develop Sustainable Licences that include recommendations for the optimal application of each technology.

We know that we need to have our own house in order as we grow our company and seek to have a voice in the ongoing climate efforts. Our strategic plan includes greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in line with climate science to future-proof our growth. Our 2030 target states that Avantium delivers net-zero carbon emissions from our operations by 2030. We will first focus on our direct and indirect emissions reductions from our facilities where we plan to switch to 100% renewable electricity. Then, we will review alternative heating systems at a number of our sites including investigating the availability of biogas and offsetting options for emissions that cannot be avoided and where alternatives are not available. We will also begin to conduct a baseline assessment of secondary emissions and establish a plan for reducing these emissions in line with climate science.

Today we celebrate planet Earth. We must take action to prevent environmental destruction and climate change. We can’t do this alone, so our mission is to inspire the next generation of scientists, consumers and brands to create and adopt sustainable solutions. Together, we can create a chain reaction that will lead to positive change.