SYNVINA CV

Their core work

SYNVINA CV was a Netherlands-based chemical company specializing in the production of furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) and polyethylene furanoate (PEF) — bio-based alternatives to petroleum-derived plastics like PET. They supplied bio-based intermediates and materials to multiple EU research consortia, serving as a technology and materials provider across biorefinery, bio-based composites, and sugar chemistry value chains. Their core contribution was enabling downstream innovation by providing FDCA, PEF, and related bio-based building blocks that other partners used to develop end products in packaging, automotive, and construction sectors.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

SYNVINA's early projects (2016-2017) touched diverse bio-based feedstocks including feather waste valorization into keratin bioplastics (KARMA2020) and forestry-derived bio-products (BIOFOREVER). By 2017-2019, their focus consolidated around industrial biorefinery operations — sugar processing, bio-based composites for automotive and construction, and lifecycle assessment of bio-based value chains. The shift reflects a move from exploring varied biomass sources toward optimizing downstream processing and material applications of their core FDCA/PEF technology platform.

SYNVINA was deepening its focus on industrial-scale biorefinery integration and sugar chemistry value chains, though no new H2020 projects appeared after 2019, suggesting the entity may have restructured or ceased operations.

How they like to work

SYNVINA operated almost exclusively as a third-party contributor (6 of 7 projects), providing specific materials, intermediates, or technical know-how to larger consortia without taking on formal partner responsibilities. With 91 unique consortium partners across 17 countries, they were broadly connected but played a supplier/expert role rather than driving project direction. This pattern is typical of a materials company that licenses or provides proprietary inputs — easy to work with as a contributor, but unlikely to lead or heavily co-design a project.

Despite their third-party role, SYNVINA built an extensive network of 91 unique partners across 17 countries, reflecting the large BBI and IA consortia they contributed to. Their reach spans most of Western and Northern Europe with strong connections in the bio-based industries ecosystem.

What sets them apart

SYNVINA occupied a rare niche as a dedicated FDCA/PEF producer — one of very few companies globally with the capability to manufacture these bio-based polymer building blocks at meaningful scale. Their value to consortia was as an upstream materials supplier: they provided the actual bio-based chemicals that other partners needed for application development. For anyone working on PEF packaging, bio-based polyesters, or FDCA applications, SYNVINA was one of the few places to source these materials in Europe.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PEFerence
  Their only directly funded project (EUR 1.47M), focused on scaling up FDCA and PEF production from bio-based feedstocks — the core of their business model.
• ECOXY
  Demonstrates cross-sector reach: bio-based recyclable composites for automotive and construction, combining biorefinery with advanced materials for high-value industrial applications.
• VEHICLE
  Focused on converting lignocellulosic biomass into mono-ethyleneglycol and other chemicals, representing the industrial chemistry backbone of bio-based manufacturing.