Circular Plastics NL: 25 million for demonstration facility Brightlands Circular Space
Geleen, Nov. 28, 2023
Brightlands Circular Space (BCS), part of the Chemelot industry cluster, will invest in the circular transition of plastics with a contribution of 25 million euros from the National Growth Fund program Circular Plastics NL. This contribution has been made available for setting up the House for Circular Co-creation, developing a skid and demo facility, and realizing a Polymer Processing facility. The combined investment is 50 million euros, which will build open research and testing facilities with the aim of contributing to making at least 50% of all plastics in the Netherlands circular by 2030. BCS (a collaboration of Maastricht University, TNO and Brightlands Chemelot Campus) will start this expansion on the north side of the Geleen campus site in 2024 and the facility is expected to be operational in 2026.
Sharing of facilities
The testing facilities are open to anyone who wants to contribute to accelerating circular plastic value chains. Participants and partners of the grant schemes of the CPNL program can further develop their technologies and scale up processes. On an area of over 4 hectares, they can use state-of-the-art equipment and expertise in several buildings to research, develop, analyze, and test large-scale reuse of plastic waste through mechanical or chemical recycling, for example, as well as reprocessing, industrial design, and scale-up into new materials and products.
Marc Spekreijse, managing director Circular Plastics NL: "This investment with BCS is an important step in the research and development field of circular plastics in the Netherlands. BCS and CPNL are creating an ecosystem that is accessible and available, where scientific knowledge and expertise are exchanged. With the House of Circular Co-Creation, plastics can be developed with recycling as the starting point instead of designing from recyclate. The skid and demo facility provides low-threshold access to the necessary scale-up of recycling processes. The Polymer Processing facility accelerates the application of recyclate in plastic products."
CPNL has established eight program lines since its inception in 2022, including open grant schemes for companies and researchers through NWO and RVO. The participation of Brightlands Circular Space in the CPNL program is an important step for the open Dutch research infrastructure, and offers international opportunities for the accelerated development of circular plastics on an industrial scale.