Henkel buys FDCA from Avantium NV

From next year, Henkel will buy FDCA to bring environmentally friendly high-performance polyurethane adhesives for electronic applications to market. Henkel and Avantium have been partners in the PEFerence consortium since 2019, which is building a supply chain for both FDCA and polyethylene furanoate (PEF), a renewable bioplastic for the beverage and textile industries.

As part of the PEFerence project, Henkel has been investigating the feasibility of FDCA for use in polyurethane adhesives. Now the chemical company has decided to bring these adhesives to market for use in consumer electronics, for example.

Like many chemical giants, Henkel wants to polish up its sustainability image. "Avantium's 100% plant-based FDCA supports our strategy to incorporate renewable carbon into our technology roadmap while improving the performance of our products," said Adrian Brandt, head of the bio-renewable materials team at Henkel Adhesive Technologies. "We see great potential for FDCA in application areas beyond electronics, such as packaging, wood construction or textile lamination," he added.