FAQ

Circular Plastics NL (CPNL) is an initiative within the National Growth Fund. The goal is to make plastics fully circular and use grants to accelerate the transition. The program runs for eight years and has eight program lines. Each program line focuses on bottlenecks in different value chains to close the cycles for existing plastics.

A CPNL program line is one of eight lines formulated by the end of 2022. The program lines are: Systems Integration & Design; Characterization, Sorting and Washing; Mechanical Recycling of Polyolefin Packaging; Recycling of Styrene-based Materials; Chemical Depolymerization; Thermochemical Recycling; Incubator; Brightlands Circular Space

One of the eight CPNL program line is called "Incubator" and is intended for scientific research into new materials or recycling technologies with the goal of making plastics more and better recyclable, including any necessary dyes and excipients/additives that turn a polymer into a plastic. The first call for proposals for the Incubator program was announced in the first week of October 2023 through a publication in the Government Gazette by NWO.

The board of the Circular Plastics NL foundation has been appointed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate. It is responsible for realizing, and directing, the program. The CPNL program office is the executive body of the Circular Plastics NL foundation, headed by a director. Within the office there are specialists for general management and communication and the program managers, are responsible for leading and developing the program lines.

The members of the program council advise the board to ensure that the rollout of the program remains in line with current developments in the industry and the knowledge available in the Netherlands.

An open call is a "call for proposals" for a grant application for companies and/or knowledge institutions.

On October 12, 2023, RVO tender with generic research projects or showcases for entrepreneurs and knowledge institutions has been issued through Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO). On Oct. 6, 2023, for scientific research for the program line Incubator was issued by Netherlands Organization for Scientific Education (NWO). In our monthly newsletter the latest development and announcements for open calls are shared, you can sign up here

The first open calls for the maternity program (NWO), generic research projects and showcases (RFO) were announced in the first week of October 2023 through a publication in the Government Gazette. More information can be found here: here

Open calls will be announced in advance in our monthly newsletter, sign up can be done here . Publication will be announced through the Government Gazette.

Everyone: all parties, including small and medium-sized enterprises, knowledge institutions and industry associations that can contribute to the objectives of the program, possibly in a consortium. A consortium consists of several parties working together on a project proposal. Information about the open calls for 2023 can be found here. here .

Scientific research projects are submitted to NWO and cannot start until they are awarded.

Projects submitted to RFO can start when the project plan is submitted. Activities are only eligible if the grant is awarded.

The activities required to write and submit a proposal are not eligible with the National Growth Fund. Circular Plastics NL (CPNL) is an initiative within the National Growth Fund.

Per program line item, a maximum amount is made available in the open call. The final amounts and percentages will be published in the generic research projects and showcases by RVO based on the submitted budget and project plan, taking into account the state aid rules. For this, also check the CPNL FAQ for the RFO open call 2023 via the link at the top of this page.

In the call for proposals through NWO for (scientific) research, a minimum co-funding percentage of 10% is applied.

Studies to (further) develop recycling and characterization technologies that can handle both fossil and biobased are included in CPNL's incubator program (P8).

In the 2023 RFO tender for research projects and showcases, an envisioned project with (partly) non-fossil materials or recycling can be considered provided the TRL level matches.

For example in the case of rigid polyolefins (PP/HDPE) or flexible polyolefins (L(L)DPE), more consideration is given to recycling the material, rather than the original feedstock/source from which the monomers are made. For a purely natural materials cycle, the BioBased Circular growth fund program, among others, has been launched.

Contact one of the CPNL program line managers for more information.

No. The efforts of all parties participating in the growth fund proposal have resulted in a vital and broad-based program.
It illustrates the support in the market and demonstrates the need for action on the challenges of circular plastics.

The open calls in the CPNL program have been made accessible to all parties who can contribute to the goals of the program.

Yes. The National Growth Fund expects co-funding for the open calls in 2023 for this program.

RVO: Co-financing is required for project proposals within RVO's Circular Plastics NL grant module in 2023. More information on the percentage level can be found on the RVO website .

NWO: The NWO call for proposals for (scientific) research uses a minimum co-funding percentage of 10%.

It is possible to include foreign parties as co-funders within a consortium, provided the subsidy funds are spent in the Netherlands and the activities take place in the Netherlands. The full conditions have been published via announcement(s) in the Government Gazette.

CPNL hosted an information and matchmaking meeting on Oct. 12. The presentation given by Marc Spekreijse, Bas Salzmann, Freek Smedema and Marijn Goes are here to be found here.