Avantium Awarded Gold Sustainability Medal by EcoVadis

AMSTERDAM, 22 November 2022 – Avantium N.V, a leading technology company in renewable chemistry, has been awarded the EcoVadis Gold Medal in sustainability, after a thorough audit of Avantium’s performance with respect to the Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement. This award places Avantium in the top 4% of R&D companies rated globally by EcoVadis.

EcoVadis is an evidence-based sustainability rating agency, which has conducted the sustainability audit of Avantium at the request of the Dutch investment fund Invest-NL. The EcoVadis Gold medal recognizes how Avantium is performing with respect to the Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement, aligned with its sustainability ambitions. In 2021, Avantium published its sustainability plan Chain Reaction 2030, committing Avantium to a series of goals and targets where it has the greatest impact on social and environmental issues. This includes accelerating its own technologies and operations to support the circular economy and driving responsible and sustainable business practice across the industry. The plan also includes the Company’s actions to embrace sustainability, wellbeing, diversity and inclusion within the organisation and to excite the next generation to accelerate the transition to a fossil-free world. Heleen Goorissen, Chief Sustainability Officer at Avantium, comments: "At Avantium, sustainability is built into our very purpose. It drives our employees, informs our technology development and excites our commercial partners. The Gold rating from EcoVadis is both a confirmation and an incentive for us to expand our sustainability efforts even further.”

About EcoVadis 

Since its founding in 2007, EcoVadis has grown to become the world’s largest and most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings, creating a global network of more than 100,000+ rated companies. The EcoVadis sustainability assessment methodology is at the heart of its Ratings and Scorecards and is an evaluation of how well a company has integrated the principles of Sustainability/CSR into their business and management system. This methodology is built on international sustainability standards, including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the United Nations Global Compact, and the ISO 26000, covering 200+ spend categories and 175+ countries. The Sustainability Scorecard illustrates performance across 21 indicators in four themes: Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement. 

About Avantium 

Avantium is a leading technology development company and a frontrunner in renewable chemistry. Avantium develops novel technologies based on renewable carbon sources as an alternative to fossilbased chemicals and plastics. The company currently has three technologies at pilot and demonstration phase. The most advanced technology is the YXY® plant-to-plastics–technology that catalytically converts plant-based sugars into FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid), the key building block for the sustainable plastic PEF (polyethylene furanoate). Avantium has successfully demonstrated the YXY® Technology at its pilot plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, and has started construction of the world's first commercial plant in 2022, with planned large-scale production of PEF in 2024. The second technology is Ray Technology™ and catalytically converts industrial sugars to plant-based MEG (mono-ethylene glycol) and plant-based MPG (mono-propylene glycol): plantMEG™ and plantMPG™. Avantium is scaling up its Ray Technology™ and the demonstration plant in Delfzijl, the Netherlands opened in November 2019. The third technology is called the Dawn Technology™ that converts non-food biomass into industrial sugars and lignin in order to help transition the chemicals and materials industries to non-fossil resources. In 2018, Avantium opened the Dawn Technology™ pilot biorefinery in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. Avantium also provides R&D solutions in the field of sustainable chemistry and is the leading provider of advanced catalyst testing technology and services to accelerate catalyst R&D. Avantium works in partnership with like-minded companies around the globe to create revolutionary renewable chemistry solutions from invention to commercial scale. 

Avantium’s shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Brussels (symbol: AVTX). Avantium is incorporated in the Euronext Amsterdam SmallCap Index (AScX). Its offices and headquarters are in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.