Brightlands Circular Space

The Brightlands Circular Space (BCS) demonstration facility, planned for 2026, will be an innovative testing ground for circular plastics on Brightlands Chemelot Campus. An article in Kunststof Magazine written by Dennis Derksen explains the €25 million investment from CPNL: BCS aims to accelerate the development of circular plastics on an industrial scale. The facility, including facilities such as a Plastic Waste Preprocessing facility and Polymer Processing facility, provides open access for companies and consortia to contribute to the circular plastics value chain. The goal is to make at least 50 percent of all plastics in the Netherlands circular by 2030 and eventually 100 percent by 2050.

Read the article here.

Circular Plastics NL: 25 million for demonstration facility Brightlands Circular Space

Brightlands Circular Space (BCS), part of the Chemelot industrial cluster, will invest in the circular transition of plastics with a contribution of 25 million euros from the National Growth Fund programme Circular Plastics NL. This contribution has been made available for the establishment of the House for Circular Co-creation, the development of a skid and demo facility, and the realization of a Polymer Processing facility. The joint investment is 50 million euros, which will be used to build open research and test facilities with the aim of contributing to making at least 50% of all plastics in the Netherlands circular by 2030. BCS (a collaboration between Maastricht University, TNO and Brightlands Chemelot Campus) will start this expansion on the north side of the campus site in Geleen in 2024 and the facility is expected to be operational in 2026. Read more here ...

The facility focuses on three main steps in the circular value chain: 1. converting waste streams into valuable plastic raw material streams through preprocessing and sorting, 2. converting waste through mechanical or chemical recycling, 3. designing new materials and products from recycled material streams and designing products that can be easily recycled at the end of their useful life. This facility is a physical place in which fusion of teaching, research and experimental testing takes place. The combination of design, sorting and recycling is of great value.