{"id":119853,"date":"2022-12-14T07:29:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-14T06:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=119853"},"modified":"2022-12-08T09:56:31","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T08:56:31","slug":"the-right-time-for-chemical-recycling-is-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/the-right-time-for-chemical-recycling-is-now\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The right time for chemical recycling is now\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Will industry in the Netherlands survive? With that question, employers’ organisation VNO-NCW sounded the alarm this month. The challenges are piling up: high energy and raw material prices, emission targets and the need to invest heavily in sustainability. Greenification is a possible solution, as was evident at the Chemical Recycling Summit (CRS) organised by Circular Biobased Delta and partners in Moerdijk, The Netherlands on 22 November.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feedstock recycling involves turning mixed streams containing both biomass and waste plastics into new raw materials for the chemical and plastics industry. The move to circular raw materials involves changes throughout the chain. National and European legislation traditionally focused on sharply distinguishable sectors such as waste and chemicals will also have to be adjusted. Cooperation is the key. Not only within the chain, but also across sectors, regions and even countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shell<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Chemical recycling is about a global market,\u00a0Paul de Hoog\u00a0of\u00a0Shell\u00a0<\/a>also stressed at the meeting in Moerdijk. Shell has set itself the goal of processing one million tonnes of waste plastics into pyrolysis oil by 2030, as a replacement for petroleum in the production of chemical building blocks for new plastics. This can only be achieved by working on it at several production sites: in the Netherlands, Germany the US and Singapore at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the end of this year, Shell and\u00a0technology provider\u00a0BlueAlp<\/a>\u00a0will start building a 50kton upgrading plant in Moerdijk to make the oil suitable for current naphtha crackers. \u201d By doing so, we are giving pyrolysis oil suppliers a signal that there is a customer who is investing in this technology and is willing to buy their oil on a larger scale,\u201d says De Hoog. \u201d This allows the Netherlands to become one of the frontrunners in the transition.\u201d The new plant should be operational by 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incidentally, to make enough pyrolysis oil for the entire chemical industry, the current collection of packaging plastic is not sufficient. Kim Meulenbroeks of Renewi says it is conceivable that in the future the Netherlands may even have to import plastic waste for this purpose. \u201cUltimately, waste is also a raw material that goes to the highest bidder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsible choice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, brand owners play a role: big brand manufacturers like\u00a0Unilever\u00a0<\/a>that choose to use circular plastics in the packaging of their products. \u201cTogether with the chemical sector, we are taking responsibility so that consumers can make a sustainable choice at the supermarket,\u201d says Unilever\u2019s\u00a0Thor Tummers. The multinational wants to use only plastics that are either compostable, reusable or recyclable and halve the use of \u2018virgin\u2019 raw materials. \u201cWe even want to collect more than we are selling ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This transition already requires substantial investments, but the business case is improving, according to Tummers. \u201cWe are working on a substantial reduction of CO2 emissions, we are creating jobs and ensuring the availability of sufficient materials. In this way, we can position the Netherlands as a kind of living lab for chemical recycling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silver lining<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Arnold Stokking, lead initiator of the\u00a0Green Chemistry, New Economy (GCNE) platform, points out that chemical recycling is certainly not just about technology, but about all the other preconditions around it, such as the creation of value chains, financing, upscaling and legislation. A silver lining is the fact that the Dutch government is seriously investing in innovation, for instance through Invest-NL and the National Growth Fund. GCNE is involved in several Growth Fund projects relevant to chemical recycling, including Circular Plastics, Future Carbon and the new Biobased Circular (BBC) application. At the same time, the platform is building to bridge the gap between small and medium-sized companies looking to scale up and the big industry players that are indispensable to make a real difference in the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, new European directives on chemical recycling are awaited. This is being worked on, Martijn ReubzaatLtr. Freek van Eijk, Anita Lieverdink, Bj\u00f6rn Koopmans, Martijn Reubzaat, policy coordinator at the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW), stated. However, the machinery in Brussels is turning at a slow pace and he also expressed the expectation that there is unlikely to be clarity on this within five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cluster organisations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Green Chemistry New Economy<\/a>\u00a0builds on the participation of major Dutch cluster organisations for circular and green chemistry, plus the support of the seven provinces in which they operate. Together, they represent the large chemical industry in the Netherlands, as well as numerous knowledge institutions and smaller companies. During the Chemical Recycling Summit, representatives of\u00a0Circular Biobased Delta<\/a>(North-Brabant),\u00a0Smart Delta Resources<\/a>(Zeeland),\u00a0Chemport Europe<\/a>\u00a0(Groningen, Drenthe and Friesland) en\u00a0Chemelot Circular Hub<\/a>\u00a0(Limburg), as well as entrepreneurs that are active in Circular Biobased Delta\u2019s Chemical Recycling Network, such as\u00a0Innovyn<\/a>,\u00a0Synova<\/a>,\u00a0Alfa Laval<\/a>,\u00a0Bureau Veritas<\/a>,\u00a0Port of Moerdijk<\/a>, the\u00a0Green Chemistry Campus<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Nettenergy<\/a>, presented themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practical help<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Especially the\u00a0\u2018end-of-waste status\u2019 regulations (when does waste cease to be waste and can it be considered a clean resource?) is one of the big challenges. GCNE programme manager Anita Lieverdink explained that research is currently being conducted with the aim of providing entrepreneurs with mainly practical help. The Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, Rijkswaterstaat and the Environment Services are currently drafting end-of-waste guidelines for entrepreneurs. However, these will only apply in the Netherlands. According to Bj\u00f6rn Koopmans (GCNE), entrepreneurs who comply with Dutch rules can nevertheless apply for the so-called \u2018regulatory sandbox\u2019: an instrument that allows experimentation on a European scale for cases where there are no European regulations yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message is clear. The market for chemical recycling is far from finalised. There are still many uncertainties regarding raw materials from waste, logistics, standardisation and regulation. But this is no reason to wait and see. Freek van Eijk (Circular Biobased Delta): \u201cThe details may still be unknown, but the direction we are all heading in Europe is clear. If you believe in the circular economy and see what\u2019s in the pipeline, it\u2019s better to anticipate what\u2019s ahead than to sit back.\u201d Or, as Joop Groen(Network Chemical Recycling) puts it, quoting Dutch \u2018philosopher\u2019 Johan Cruijff: \u201cYou can only be on time at one moment. All other moments are either too early or too late. The right time is now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resource hub<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Besides clarity on en-of-waste status, attention is needed on the origin and quality of feedstocks. Bj\u00f6rn Koopmans: \u201cWe have concrete plans to set up a so-called Resource Hub in the Netherlands. Among other things, this should play a role in regulating waste streams, to prevent them being dragged over long distances. We also need specifications, norms and standards for determining the quality of feedstocks from waste streams and for the products we can make from them.\u201d Standards and quality requirements should also be set for the use of technologies. Moreover, to promote the acceptance of chemical recycling, it is necessary to select a method to determine the amount of recycled content of end products (such as the mass balance approach). Entrepreneurs have a great need for information on all such topics. They will be addressed at a meeting organised by GCNE on this subject in April 2023.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download the presentations of the summit here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also the report <\/a>and video impression<\/a> of the Chemical Recycling meeting held earlier<\/strong> in Germany.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Will industry in the Netherlands survive? With that question, employers’ organisation VNO-NCW sounded the alarm this month. The challenges are piling up: high energy and raw material prices, emission targets and the need to invest heavily in sustainability. Greenification is a possible solution, as was evident at the Chemical Recycling Summit (CRS) organised by Circular […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Chemical Recycling Summit","footnotes":""},"categories":[17143],"tags":[5842,17202,10416,12518,10408,14462,10453],"supplier":[9539,7155,19051,9757,21446,13106,21444,21447,8309,21448,647,21445,17121,455],"class_list":["post-119853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recycling","tag-biomass","tag-chemicalrecycling","tag-circulareconomy","tag-feedstocks","tag-greenchemistry","tag-plasticwaste","tag-recycling","supplier-alfa-laval","supplier-biobased-delta","supplier-bluealp","supplier-bureau-veritas","supplier-chemelot-circular-hub","supplier-chemport-europe","supplier-green-chemistry-new-economy","supplier-innovyn","supplier-nettenergy","supplier-port-of-moerdijk","supplier-shell-group","supplier-smart-delta-resources","supplier-synova-sa","supplier-unilever"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119853\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119853"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=119853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}