Catalyxx Secures Over €20 Million to Build Europe's First Commercial Bio-Based Plant

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Catalyxx has received European funding to build the first commercial bio-based chemical plant in Europe, marking a transition from technology demonstration to commercial deployment.

Through the RenewChem project, Catalyxx has formed a consortium that includes major chemical companies such as Arkema and Evonik, along with multiple European industrial, technological, and innovation partners. The consortium is developing Europe's first process for the industrial production of bio-based alcohols from ethanol, aiming to deliver ready-to-use bio-based chemicals that are molecularly identical to fossil-based products and fully compatible with existing industrial infrastructure, applications, and supply chains. The involvement of Catalyxx, Arkema, and Evonik underscores the strategic significance of the project and the growing market demand for high-performance, sustainable chemical solutions.

Joaquín Alarcón, CEO of Catalyxx, stated that receiving support at the European level validates the strength of the company's technology and the relevance of its industrial strategy. The RenewChem project will accelerate the transition to industrial-scale production, bringing to market bio-based chemicals that industries can directly adopt using existing applications and supply chains. In the current geopolitical and industrial landscape, strengthening Europe's supply security and strategic autonomy in key chemical value chains is increasingly important, and Catalyxx is poised to play a role in this transformation.

Catalyxx's proprietary technology converts ethanol into a mixture of butanol, hexanol, and higher alcohols. These products serve as key intermediates in chemical value chains for coatings, resins, adhesives, lubricants, surfactants, home and personal care products, flavors and fragrances, and sustainable fuels. Compared to traditional petrochemical alternatives, these products are designed to offer equivalent or superior performance and compatibility while reducing dependence on fossil feedstocks and improving the sustainability of chemical value chains.

The European chemical industry currently faces the dual challenge of decarbonizing production while maintaining industrial competitiveness, supply security, and strategic autonomy. By enabling the industrial-scale production of renewable, ready-to-use chemicals, Catalyxx provides a practical pathway for the industry to reduce its carbon footprint without altering downstream processes.

Alarcón added that the company's value proposition lies in delivering chemicals that industries already use, but produced from renewable carbon with significantly improved sustainability: the same chemicals, but better.