With the circular plastics economy, the chemical sector can make an important contribution to the energy and climate objectives of the Netherlands in the long term. Chemical recycling of plastics is a mix of promising technologies that are complementary to current mechanical recycling processes. In the Transition Agenda Plastics, “chemical recycling” is one of the key points and is part of the mission-driven innovation agendas under the Climate Agreement and Raw Materials Agreement such as MMIP6 Closure of industrial chains and KIA Circular Economy, both from the Energy Transition and Sustainability mission, as well as from Key Technologies as in MJP 33 Circular Plastics.
The landscape and purpose
Several parties are active to set up research projects and/or programs on chemical recycling. This includes ISPT / DPI, Brightsite, TNO and VNO-NCW (Accelerator House), national and international (European) consortia and individual companies throughout the country. At the request of the Top Sector Chemistry and the Ministries of I&W and EZK, the National Chemical Recycling Platform was created.
The purpose of the platform is to promote the exchange of knowledge in the field of chemical recycling and coordination of initiatives. In addition, the platform will identify areas of innovation so (development) programs are designed to cover “blank spots” at all TRL levels in the knowledge landscape. The platform will also connect with initiatives in the ARRRA area (the Netherlands-Germany-Belgium) and beyond in specific cases. An initial analysis by the current core team of the National Platform Chemical Recycling has identified a number of gaps in the current knowledge landscape. In cooperation with, a.o. NWO and the ministries of EZK and I&W, a programmatic approach is being developed to create a possible package of funding for fundamental, applied research and demos / pilot in a mix between private and public (NL and EU) resources in conjunction with the mission-driven approach.
Governance and core team
It is important that the most important stakeholders feel adequately connected to this national platform. The following core representatives are represented in the current core team: Transition Agenda for Plastics (vz), Holland Chemistry, NWO, Brightsite and EZK. If necessary, the core team will be expanded with an industrial representation and knowledge institutions. Progress and results are shared on a frequent basis via, among other things, the Plastics Transition Team with the branch organizations and companies present (such as NRK, KIDV, Plastics Europe, VNCI, SABIC, Nature & Environment). The administrative sounding board / supervisory board will be composed of the instituting parties, I&W, EZK and Holland Chemistry.