Dutch scientist is nominated for European Patent Office (EPO) prize for his invention in the field of bioplastics
PEF – a high-quality green plastic produced from plant-based industrial sugars
Environmentally-friendly alternative to bottles made of petroleum-based PET
EPO President Battistelli: “Gruter has developed a new method for developing bioplastics on a commercial scale.”

Munich, 26 April 2017 – Every day, hundreds of millions of plastic bottles are sold around the world, imposing a heavy burden on the environment. Aside from post-consumer plastic waste issues, these bottles rely on fossil-fuel-derived chemicals, require a significant amount of energy for production and leave behind a considerable CO2 footprint. Dutch chemist Gert-Jan Gruter and his team at Amsterdam-based chemicals company Avantium have developed an environmentally-friendly alternative: a plant-based bioplastic called PEF that requires no petrochemicals, is completely recyclable and cuts associated CO2 emissions by up to 70%.

For this achievement, Gert-Jan Gruter has been nominated for the European Inventor Award 2017 as one of three finalists in the category “Small and medium-sized enterprises”. The winners of the 12th edition of the European Patent Office (EPO)’s annual innovation prize will be announced at a ceremony in Venice on 15 June.

“Gert-Jan Gruter has developed a new method that for developing bioplastics on a commercial scale,” said EPO President Benoît Battistelli, announcing the European Inventor Award 2017 finalists. “His invention is a major step forward in reducing the environmental impact from plastics, and it demonstrates that we can overcome some of our biggest challenges through innovation.”

New plastics needed

Roughly 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced each year and employed in such a diverse range of products that it is difficult to imagine a world without these versatile polymers. Gert-Jan Gruter spent many years in conventional petroleum-based plastics research, and worked with some of the biggest companies in the chemical industry. Having witnessed the toll fossil-fuel extraction and refinement was taking on the planet, he took a decision to try to come up with new, alternative technologies, which could be used on a large scale.

“To make the transition from fossil feedstock to sustainable plastics, we have to rely on biomass,” says Gruter. “But for this we need new materials. That’s the only way to bring about this change.”

Gruter has taken aim at the fourth most commonly used plastic polymer, polyethylene terephthalate, best known for the ubiquitous plastic bottles which sport its acronym: PET. The possibility to create an adequate PET substitute had been theorised since the early part of the 21st century. However, an efficient method to create large amounts of the necessary intermediary chemical furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) remained elusive. “Over the past 100 years, more than 1 000 publications and patents have been published on FDCA and its precursors,” says Gruter. “Neither research nor any of these patents had resulted in a viable method of producing this material in large quantities, and at competitive prices.”

Gruter and his team took a new approach and developed a chemical, catalytic process that efficiently creates FDCA from simple plant sugars (starch). The process, which the Dutch chemicals company dubs YXY (pronounced “icksy”) has paved the way for a new bio-based polymer: polyethylene furanoate (PEF).

A better alternative

Petroleum-based PET’s flexibility, light weight and robustness have helped make it the leading polymer for beverage bottling, but the plant-based PEF offers all of these advantages and more. PEF, for instance, has greater material rigidity than its petroleum-derived counterpart. The result: bottles use less plastic, cutting down on manufacturing costs, a boon for companies and consumers.

PEF is also sturdier and has better barrier properties. Beverage containers made of PEF keep their contents fresher for longer by blocking the passage of oxygen into the bottle ten times more effectively than PET. For carbonated drinks, PEF holds in five times more CO2. PEF’s gas barrier properties are matched by important environmental and efficiency benefits. Manufacturing bottles made from this polymer requires about 70% less energy and releases about one-third of the carbon emissions of PET.

Big partners

Founded in 2000 by a consortium of companies led by Royal Dutch Shell, Avantium honed a strong R&D focus through the chemical research services it offers to partner companies. This experience has helped the firm develop innovative technologies, such PEF and its YXY process, and license this technology for large-scale production. In March 2017, Avantium went public, raising EUR 103 million in new capital and valuing the company at around EUR 300 million.

The company, which today has some 150 employees, is well on its way to making PEF a viable and widely-accepted alternative to PET. It has operated a pilot plant for PEF since 2011. To bring the technology to market, Avantium has partnered with several leading industry players in the food and bottle manufacturing sectors, and also formed the joint venture Synvina in 2016 with BASF for the production and marketing of PEF. The JV plans to build an industrial-scale plant in Antwerp, Belgium, with a production capacity of up to 50 000 tonnes per year. The goal is to bring PEF bottles to market by 2021 and secure a foothold in the plastic bottle-making industry, worth an estimated EUR 32 to 37 billion annually.

A master of bioplastics

After earning a PhD in Organometallic Chemistry from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, Gruter began his career at DSM Research BV as a group leader in charge of researching polyolefins catalysts. He joined Avantium in 2000 as Vice President Technology and became the company’s Chief Technology Officer in 2004, a position he holds today. In 2016 he was appointed part-time Professor “Industrial Sustainable Chemistry” at the University of Amsterdam.

Gruter has authored or co-authored 30 scientific papers and is listed as the inventor or co-inventor on more than 100 patents and patent applications, both in Europe and around the world (17 of the European patents relate to the YXY technology). Active in industry and the public sector, Gruter sits on several boards, advisory councils, policy groups and programme committees. Thanks to Gruter’s innovations in the field of bioplastics and the YXY process, Avantium has been recognised with a number of honours and awards, including European CTO of the year 2014, the Innovation in Bioplastics Award (2013), the European Cleantech Company of the Decade (2005-2014), and most recently, induction into Global Clean Tech 100’s Hall of Fame (2017).

Video and photo material

Boudewijn van Schaïk

Chief Financial Officer

Boudewijn van Schaïk serves as Avantium’s CFO as of 1 January 2023. Before joining Avantium, Boudewijn served as Corporate Finance Director and other senior roles in Treasury, Strategy and M&A at SBM Offshore (2013-2022). Prior to the foregoing roles, he held various senior finance positions at NIBC Bank, ABN AMRO Bank, Main Corporate Finance and Alexander Forbes Financial Services (South Africa). Boudewijn holds a Business Science degree (Accounting and Corporate Finance) from the University of Cape Town (South Africa).

Yap Chie Cheung

Managing Director Avantium Renewable Chemistries

Yap Chie works for Avantium since 2023. She is responsible for commercialising Avantium’s portfolio of revolutionary renewable chemistry solutions, including plant-based mono-ethylene glycol (plantMEG) and mono-propylene glycol (plantMPG). Yap Chie has significant commercial and global management experience and has a proven track record in initiating and setting up partnerships within the value chain in the biobased industry. Prior to joining Avantium, Yap Chie held several senior positions in sales, market development and global business management at International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), Cargill and DSM over a 25-year period.

Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders 2022

More detailed information about the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (25 January 2022) can be found here:

DRAFT Minutes EGM 25 January 2022 >

Presentation EGM 25 January 2022 >

Introduction video Nils Björkman >

Q&As EGM 25 January 2022 >

Voting results 25 January 2022 >

Convocation notice EGM >

Oproeping BAVA >

Agenda and explanatory notes EGM Avantium N.V. >

Information Memorandum >

Proposed Amendment Articles of Association >

Voorstel tot Aanpassing Statuten >

Power of Attorney >

Virtual EGM Registration Manual >

Virtuele BAVA Registratiehandleiding >

Information Line for Retail Investors
Retail Investors with questions about the agenda and the meeting documents of the EGM can call the Avantium Information Line for Retail Investors (open from Monday to Friday during business hours) or send an email: +31 (0) 10 313 8909 / avantium@georgeson.com

Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders 2017

The Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (“EGM”) of Avantium was held on November 30th, 2017.

More detailed information about the EGM can be found here:

Minutes Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of Avantium N.V. >

Convocation notice, Attending the meeting and voting >

Annex I Power of attorney >

Agenda and explanatory notes EGM Avantium N.V. 30 November 2017 >

Resume Mr C Verhaar >

How to get to the EGM >

Voting results EGM 30 November 2017 >

Tom van Aken

Chief Executive Officer

Tom van Aken is Avantium’s CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and member of the Management Board. Before his appointment as a CEO in 2005 he was Vice President of Business Development (2002-2004) and Vice President of Global Marketing and Sales (2004-2005).

Prior to joining Avantium, Tom was Business Development Director at DSM Fine Chemicals, Inc.

Dutch native, Tom earned an MSc in Chemistry from the University of Utrecht.

Tom’s main inspiration is the excellent team he works with and the opportunity to make an impact together.

TARGET

100% of our advocacy will focus on transforming the chemical industry to become circular and fossil-free.

Sustainable Development Goals

This target requires us to call for greater action on the need for a fossil-free chemical industry. We will be advocating for changes that support the transition to circular chemicals and materials. We want to lead by example, and we are demanding from ourselves to step up to address the climate crisis. The scale of the challenge demands that we more actively engage and work through partnerships and collaborations with a broad range of stakeholders.

Future Plans and Next Steps:

Build engagement and educate the public on the impact of climate change, by using our voice and advocating for change in the chemical industry via events, media, blogs and through digital platforms.
Work with stakeholders across the plastic value chain to fundamentally change plastic material by 2030 and empower our partners to shift to renewable and circular solutions.
Working with governments and industry associations to help inform the debate and help shape climate policy through positive lobbying.

By 2025, we will improve upon our baseline of being an inclusive and diverse company, ensuring that we are representative of the societies and communities we operate within.

Sustainable Development Goals

As part of our diversity agenda, we believe in gender equality and will strive to achieve this at Avantium. In 2019, 29% of Avantium’s Management Team, 25% of our Leadership Teams and 33% of our Supervisory Board were women. The chemical industry is currently underrepresented by women across all levels of organisations. Avantium compares favourably against the industry average but we know that there is still a lot to do across all levels of the company to achieve gender parity and equality.

First Moves and Next Steps:

Refine Diversity and Inclusion company statement and enhance awareness.
Map diversity (gender, age, nationality) in our main talent pipelines to understand what it means to reflect society.
Define short (1-3 years), medium (up to 5 years) and long term (up to 10 years) company diversity targets.
Factor gender criteria into attracting, retention, and succession planning and other HR processes.
Report gender, age and nationality diversity and include in our company KPI reporting.
Conduct diversity and inclusion and/or unconscious bias training for Line Managers and recruiters.
Work with student workstream to encourage a better gender balance studying STEM subjects.

By 2030 100,000 students will have been engaged by Avantium on using chemistry for a fossil-free world.

Sustainable Development Goals

Our approach to inspire the next generation of scientists focuses on three actions:

Supporting interventions that prove their effectiveness in raising interest and preventing students dropping out of STEM education.
Developing the right partnerships with STEM education providers so that we are jointly able to reach a critical mass of students. Through these partnerships we will invest in programmes that ensure that STEM education is accessible to everyone, especially those in underserved communities.
Using our scientific expertise to excite the next generation of scientists about sustainability and the beauty of chemistry.

First Moves and Next Steps:

Establish a work team with representation from each business unit.
Define education topics and training goals.
Define the roll-out (e.g. train-the-trainer) strategy to reach the targeted audience.
Develop training and education materials on sustainable and renewable chemistry that can be disseminated via social media and other platforms as well as via training programs.
Map possible partnerships and define collaboration strategies.
Deliver the training.
Track and report on the number of students reached.

By 2030 we will be one of the 10 best companies to work for in the Netherlands.

Sustainable Development Goals

We aim to continuously improve our work environment and culture. We strive to maintain a flat organisation that empowers, recognises and celebrates the many cultures represented. We do this is by making sure we all live and breathe the Avantium values. These values act as our compass and ensure that we are a purpose driven organisation embracing sustainability, wellbeing, diversity and inclusion.

First Moves and Next Steps:

Perform a ‘Great Place to Work’ baseline assessment of workplace to be able to:

Identify ‘strengths’ and ‘weak spots’ for targeted actions.
Define a short (1-3 years), medium (up to 5 years) and long term (up to 10 years) action plan and measures to utilise strengths and improve weak spots.
Establish a ‘Great Place to Work’ team from different business units and different levels of the organisation.
Define desired employee experience and define improvement areas.
Implement improvements to enhance employee experience.
Perform a ‘Great Place to Work’ assessment again in year 5 to measure progress against the baseline.

By 2023 all of our plants will achieve a certification for ISO45001.

Sustainable Development Goals

We already have a strong safety culture and focus heavily on Health and Safety. We will now begin to embed safety into our systems. We will do this by rolling out ISO45001 across our operations as the gold standard for organisations who are serious about improving employee safety, reducing workplace risks and creating better and safer working conditions.

Future Plans and Next Steps:

Proceeding with ISO45001 accreditation.
Preparing the systems, processes, procedures and documentation for ISO45001.
Training our people on the new enhanced standard.
Conducting a pre-audit to understand Avantium’s readiness.
Starting the formal certification process in 2022 with a view to completion in 2023.

By 2025 Avantium will send zero non-hazardous waste to incineration and landfill.

Sustainable Development Goals

We will do this by:

Diverting waste from offices, plants and laboratories and setting standards to embed into Avantium’s general facility management and procurement practices.
Monitoring and applying alternative options for materials generating significant damage to our environment.
Educating and enabling behaviour change within our colleagues, particularly related to reuse and recycling.
Wherever possible going ‘paperless’ including electronic documentation and lab books.
Eliminating single use plastics from our own operations.
Aligning our work on zero waste with our commitments on circularity and embracing the nine R’s of Refuse, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Repurpose, Recycle and Recover.

Future Plans and Next Steps:

Partnerships with our waste providers and landlords for rented sites to improve the recycling facilities at all of our operations.
Working with the Avantium Green Team, introduce programmes to promote reuse and recycling behaviours of Avantium’s employees.
Setting an aspirational interim target of 70% reduction in non-hazardous waste to incineration by 2023.
Exploring ways of reducing the amount of waste generated from Avantium’s operations.

By 2030, our own operations will achieve net-zero carbon emissions.

Sustainable Development Goals

In order to achieve zero carbon operations, we will focus on the following areas:

Developing and implementing greenhouse gas (“GHG”) reduction and climate resiliency strategies.
Lowering our GHG footprint by increasing energy efficiency and driving investment in renewables.
Exploring ways to store away emissions that cannot be avoided, either through natural or technological offsetting schemes.

Future Plans and Next Steps:

We will:

Switch to 100% renewable electricity.
Calculate direct GHG emissions from our pilot plants and laboratory activities.
Review alternative heating systems at some of our sites including looking into the availability of biogas.
Investigate offsetting options for emissions that cannot be avoided and where alternatives are not available.
Conduct a baseline assessment of our scope 3 emissions and establish a plan for reducing these emissions in line with climate science.

By 2030 100% of our renewable polymers and chemistries plant-based feedstock will come from sustainable sources.

Sustainable Development Goals

In order to ensure the integrity of our feedstocks, we aim to only partner with suppliers that actively engage in sustainable practices. We will strive to adopt independently certified sustainable standards of feedstock, but when these are not available or appropriate, we will create our own sustainability standards in consultation with subject matter experts and leading NGOs.

Future Plans and Next Steps:

Defining sustainability standards for our renewable polymers and chemistries feedstocks.
Working with our suppliers to ensure that our feedstocks meet our sustainability standards.
Incorporating the sustainable sourcing of plant-based materials into the license agreements for our renewable technologies.

By 2030 Avantium will become a circular business.

Sustainable Development Goals

Avantium will tackle the circularity challenge with the following approach:

Design products with renewable materials that are responsibly and ethically produced.
Develop products that are durable and recyclable creating the highest possible value for the longest possible time while consuming the smallest amount of material possible.
Develop partnerships within the circular value chain to “close the loop”.
Develop new business models to extend the use of our technologies or products.
Develop licensing models for our renewable and sustainable technologies, scaling the production and enabling economies of scale. This will enable Avantium to generate more circular impact.

Future Plans and Next Steps

Ensuring that by 2025, all new technologies we develop will contribute positively towards the circular economy.
Investigating circular business models for each line of business.
Providing Sustainable Licences - include recommendations for optimal sustainable application of each technology.

By 2030 Avantium’s technologies will deliver 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 savings across the chemical industry.

Sustainable Development Goals

Avantium’s technologies will deliver CO2 savings through:

The commercialisation of its YXY® plants-to-plastics technology for the production of FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid), the key building block for PEF (Polyethylene Furanoate).
The scale-up of Ray Technology™ for the production of plantMEG (mono-ethylene glycol).
The conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) via electrochemistry to valuable ingredients and sustainable chemical building blocks.
Improving efficiency in the broader chemical and petrochemical industries using its proprietary high-throughput catalysis platform.

Future Plans and Next Steps:

Continuing to use Life Cycle Analysis for our technologies as these will confirm the reduction in environmental impact between Avantium’s renewable products and the market incumbent.
Estimating the impact of scaled up technologies per licence.
Quantifying the role our Catalysis business unit plays in supporting customers to reduce CO2 via accelerated R&D.

Trudy Schoolenberg

Trudy Schoolenberg joined the Supervisory Board of the Company in September 2020.

Dr. Trudy Schoolenberg served in various senior management positions at Shell, Wärtsilä and Akzo-Nobel in Research, Operations and Strategy. Dr. Schoolenberg currently holds Senior Independent Director roles at Accsys Technologies Plc. She is also member of the Board of Directors of Spie SA. Additionally, she is member of the Board of Directors of Elementis Minerals PLC.

Dr. Schoolenberg has a Ph.D. in Technical Sciences at the Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) and an Msc in Industrial Engineering. She certified as a Non Execitive Director at ESAA, Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Cynthia Arnold

Cynthia Arnold joined the Supervisory Board of the Company in September 2020.

She served as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at The Valspar Corporation, a manufacturer of paint and coatings. She was also Chief Technology Officer at Sun Chemical Corporation, the world's largest producer of printing inks and pigments. Prior to this, she worked for nine years at General Electric Plastics, of which three years were for GE Plastics Europe in The Netherlands. She currently serves as a non-executive Director on the Boards of The Cabot Corporation, Milliken & Company and Citrine Informatics.

Dr. Cynthia Arnold holds a Ph.D. from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University in Blacksburg (USA), an MBA from the University of California in Berkeley (USA) and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of California in Berkely (USA).

Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders 2020

More detailed information about the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (30 September 2020) can be found here:

Minutes EGM 2020 >

Questions shareholders >

CEO Invitation to EGM 2020 >

Convocation notice >

Agenda and explanatory notes EGM Avantium N.V. 30 September 2020 >

Annex I Power of attorney >

Voting results >

Introduction Cynthia Arnold >

Introduction Trudy Schoolenberg >

Michelle Jou

Michelle Jou joined the Supervisory Board of the Company in 2020. She has over 20 years of professional experience in the chemical industry in Asia and Europe, where she has served in a variety of positions in sales, marketing and supply chain management. Since 2022, Michelle Jou serves as Chief Executive Officer at Castrol. Prior to this, she worked for Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience) in various roles. In her last role at Covestro, she was President of Covestro’s global Polycarbonates Segment (Shanghai). Mrs. Michelle B.B. Jou (1969) holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in French from Fu-Jen University (Taiwan) and an MBA from the EMLYON Business School (France). She is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, French and English.

Bart Welten

Chief Financial Officer

Bart is CFO and member of the Management Board since 2020. Before joining Avantium, Bart served as the CFO of Centrient Pharmaceuticals (formerly the joint-venture of DSM and Sinochem) in Singapore. Before he left Centrient, he managed the sale of the company to Bain Capital. Prior to this, Bart held the position of CFO of DSM Resins and DSM Anti-Infectives. He holds a law degree from Leiden University (Netherlands) and an MBA from Boston College (USA).

Edwin Moses

Chair

Edwin Moses (Chair) joined the Supervisory Board of the Company in December 2019.

Edwin Moses is a serial entrepreneur and value creator in European life science companies. He has expertise in high value service provision to the pharmaceutical industry and in drug discovery and development. His primary focus is on high growth businesses and change management. Mr. Moses has 25 years of Board level experience in more than 10 companies, mostly as a Chair.

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We go the extra mile to deliver results

We do the right things right

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We always find a way
We think outside of the box – but never lose sight of reality
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We always sail towards our destination, adjusting course when necessary

We make a lasting impact

We think big
We understand our customer through and through
We improve the world around us
We drive and thrive on change
We have an impact on the environmental footprint throughout the wider industry

Margret Kleinsman

Margret Kleinsman, Chief Financial Officer of Agrifirm, graduated from the Technical University Twente, the Netherlands, and completed a post doc at the VU University Amsterdam. She was the CFO of Holland Colours N.V. from 2014 until 2020. Before that she worked for Akzo Nobel, filling a variety of roles with increasing responsibilities in Chemicals, Fibers and Coatings at various locations, including two longer term assignments in the USA. In her last role at Akzo Nobel, as General Manager for Car Refinish Coatings for North and South America, she was based in Atlanta, Georgia, and was, among other things, responsible for the implementation of a new distribution model.

Plastic bottles from plants: Gert-Jan Gruter named European Inventor Award 2017 finalist

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General Meeting of Shareholders 2024

Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders 2024

General Meeting of Shareholders 2023

Boudewijn van Schaïk

Chief Financial Officer

Yap Chie Cheung

Managing Director Avantium Renewable Chemistries

Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders 2022

General Meeting of Shareholders 2021

General Meeting of Shareholders 2017

Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders 2017

General Meeting of Shareholders 2018

General Meeting of Shareholders 2019

Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders 2019

General Meeting of Shareholders 2020

Tom van Aken

Chief Executive Officer

TARGET

100% of our advocacy will focus on transforming the chemical industry to become circular and fossil-free.

Future Plans and Next Steps:

TARGET

By 2025, we will improve upon our baseline of being an inclusive and diverse company, ensuring that we are representative of the societies and communities we operate within.

First Moves and Next Steps:

TARGET

By 2030 100,000 students will have been engaged by Avantium on using chemistry for a fossil-free world.

First Moves and Next Steps:

TARGET

By 2030 we will be one of the 10 best companies to work for in the Netherlands.

First Moves and Next Steps:

TARGET

By 2023 all of our plants will achieve a certification for ISO45001.

Future Plans and Next Steps:

TARGET

By 2025 Avantium will send zero non-hazardous waste to incineration and landfill.

Future Plans and Next Steps:

TARGET

By 2030, our own operations will achieve net-zero carbon emissions.

Future Plans and Next Steps:

TARGET

By 2030 100% of our renewable polymers and chemistries plant-based feedstock will come from sustainable sources.

Future Plans and Next Steps:

TARGET

By 2030 Avantium will become a circular business.

Future Plans and Next Steps

TARGET

By 2030 Avantium’s technologies will deliver 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 savings across the chemical industry.

Future Plans and Next Steps:

Trudy Schoolenberg

Cynthia Arnold

Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders 2020

Michelle Jou

Bart Welten

Chief Financial Officer

Edwin Moses

Chair

crisis test

Margret Kleinsman

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