DuPont and ADM open world-first FDME pilot production facility

DuPont Industrial Biosciences and Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) have opened the world’s first biobased furan dicarboxylic methyl ester (FDME) pilot production facility in Decatur, Illinois, US.

FDME is a molecule derived from fructose that can be used to create a variety of biobased chemicals and materials, including plastics, that can be more cost-effective, efficient and sustainable than their fossil fuel- based counterparts.

One of the first FDME-based polymers under development by DuPont is polytrimethylene furandicarboxyate (PTF), a novel polyester made from DuPont’s proprietary Bio- PDOTM (1,3-propanediol). PTF is a 100% renewable polymer that, in bottling applications, can be used to create plastic bottles that are lighter-weight, more sustainable and better performing.