Shell spinoff Avantium raised another EUR 30 million, or about $43.9 million (USD) the company reported Thursday. Avantium produces "chemical building blocks" that industrial plastics, textile and fuel makers need to churn out green products that are as affordable and work as well as petroleum-based equivalents. Avantium uses a catalytic process to convert carbohydrates into furanics, which are bio-materials that can be made from sugar or non-food sources. The company plans to use its new funds, in part, to create a 100 percent plant-based, 100 percent recyclable polyester. It also aims to complete and begin operating a production plant in Geleen, the Netherlands. The plant was expected to be up and running already...