With a time control means for a wetting treatment of a fixed abrasive platen provided, the fixed abrasive platen is set in a good wet state in advance prior to the start of polishing. In certain embodiments cyclic esters, such as glycolide and lactide, can be produced from a fermentation broth or other feed stream that contains a hydroxy organic acid, an ammonium salt of a hydroxy organic acid, an amide of a hydroxy organic acid, or an ester of a hydroxy organic acid using azeotropic distillation. The via trench is etched only in regions common to both the metal line mask and the via mask.