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Largest and most advanced plastic waste sorting plant for chemical recycling in Delfzijl

A state-of-the-art plant is designed to process non-recyclable plastic waste into feesdtock, for the chemical recycling operations of Clariter and BioBTX. Earlier this week, Clariter, BioBTX, Bollegraaf, and N+P announced their initiative to develop Europe's largest and most advanced plastic waste sorting plant for the chemical recycling industry in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. With an annual processing capacity of 350,000 tonnes, this facility will target the lowest-grade plastic waste that would otherwise be sent to incineration or landfilling. The project is expected to come online by 2025.

Raw material preparation center (RMPC)

Chemical recycling enables the chemical industry to increase sustainability by producing numerous high-grade products like paints, cosmetics, and detergents from plastic waste. This state-of-the-art raw material preparation center (RMPC) will not only increase Europe’s recycling rates but will also save CO2 by helping the industry to replace the use of fossil-fuel-based petrochemicals with plastic waste-based alternatives.

Jasper Munier - Business Development Manager at Clariter: "We are developing the RMPC project to improve feedstock preparation for chemical treatment. As we are currently forced to focus on nonrecyclable plastic waste from surrounding member states, we hope the Dutch EPR organization will soon provide access to its waste streams for chemical recycling. This way, we could improve Dutch recycling rates and avoid unnecessary waste shipments."

Paradigm shift for environmental thinking

The annual processing capacity of the plant, 350,000,000 kg, is equivalent to the quantity of plastic packaging thrown away each year by more than 11 million Dutch citizens. This is a radical new paradigm shift – not only for the chemical industry but also for environmental thinking.

The project partners will handle the offtake of raw material (Clariter, BioBTX), the supply of plastic waste (N+P), and the delivery of technology (Bollegraaf). The RMPC will be in the Groningen Seaports area. The port aims to be one of Europe’s most efficient circular hubs, where companies will work together to achieve a fully circular economy.

About Clariter:

Clariter is a global cleantech company that developed a revolutionary chemical recycling process that provides a solution to the world’s plastic waste epidemic.
This proprietary high-yield technology accepts most plastic types and upcycles them into 3 high-quality, high-value products: oils, waxes, and solvents that serve as alternatives to fossil-based products. These are used as ingredients for over 1,000 green sustainable industrial and consumer products.

About BioBTX:

BioBTX produces BTX from biomass and plastics. The BioBTX technology makes it possible to move from a linear fossil world to a circular renewable society. BTX is a group of molecules consisting of benzene, toluene, and xylenes. These molecules are used in huge volumes in our current society, more than  50.000.000 tons per year. They are used as building blocks for a large array of products. These products play a huge role in our present society. You can think of high-performance polymers, pharmaceuticals, coatings, isolation materials, PET bottles, etc.

About Bollegraaf:

The Bollegraaf Group is a world-leading expert in the waste sorting and recycling sector. With more than 60 years of experience, it owns unparalleled expertise in the design of sorting processes, manufacture, installation, commissioning and service of turnkey recycling solutions for various waste streams. Bollegraaf has installed over 3500 recycling systems among others across Europe, America and Canada and has built the largest MRFs (up to 70+ tons per hour) in the world. Its worldwide reputation is based on the customer-centric approach, aiming to maximize performance and return on investment for customers. Bollegraaf’s solutions and services are the result of continuous innovation, they are based on cutting-edge design and engineering as well as integrated, advanced technologies, such as robotics or artificial intelligence.

About N+P:

Dutch based N+P is a pioneer in the development of concepts to utilize non-recyclable waste streams as alternative fuels or alternative raw materials. N+P’s developments are heavily focused around bridging waste to value, reducing the necessity to landfill materials but upgrading them into high quality alternatives for fossil-based commodities. N+P have multiple offices and production locations in Europe, with a turnover of approx. 200 million per annum.

About Groningen Seaports:

Groningen Seaports is the economic operator, developer and authority for the port of Delfzijl, Eemshaven and the adjoining industrial sites. The organisation provides the complete package of port services to its industrial and commercial clients, from logistics and infrastructure services to the issue and maintenance of the sites in both port regions. As well as the two excellently equipped ports, Groningen Seaports manages the industrial sites around the ports and at other areas in the Eemsdelta.

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