Circular Plastics NL supports the establishment of a demonstration facility
Tens of millions for Brightlands Circular Space
Brightlands Chemelot Campus, Maastricht University, and TNO have joined forces to develop Brightlands Circular Space, an alliance that aims to accelerate the transition to a future-oriented circular economy by focusing on circular plastics. The National Growth Fund is providing a substantial contribution of €25 million to this initiative through the Circular Plastics NL (CPNL) program. This contribution has recently been confirmed in writing by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate. The collaboration between the three founding partners was sealed with the signing of a cooperation agreement and the establishment of Brightlands Circular Space Facilities BV.
A key component of Brightlands Circular Space is the creation of an open-access demonstration facility at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Sittard-Geleen. This facility will serve as an international hub for scientific and applied research, companies, and consortia to collaborate on accelerating the development of circular plastics on an industrial scale. They will have access to state-of-the-art equipment and expertise for researching, developing, analyzing, and testing large-scale plastic waste reuse. Four different facilities will be constructed across an area of over 4 hectares: the House for Circular Co-creation, Skid pilot and demonstrator facility, Polymer Processing facility, and Plastic Waste Preprocessing facility.
The growth fund contribution is intended for the realization of the first three mentioned facilities. In addition to funding from founding partners and other funds, Brightlands Circular Space receives a combined investment totaling €50 million, paving the way for constructing one of the world’s first fully circular demonstration facilities for plastics.
Lia Voermans, Chairperson of the Steering Committee for Brightlands Circular Space, emphasizes the urgency of this initiative: “We see a continuing role for plastic as a unique foundation for many everyday products but without relying on oil and gas or further burdening our planet. Our mission is to accelerate the development of fully circular plastics and create a society where waste serves as raw material for new products as much as possible. The starting point is the demand from consumers, which aligns the use, reuse, and recycling processes better.”
Innovation in collaboration, business models, and technology
Aligned with the Dutch ambitions for circular plastics – 50% circular by 2030 and 100% by 2050 – Brightlands Circular Space focuses not only on technological innovation but also on new forms of collaboration to establish new societal and business models. Brightlands Circular Space stands for a forward-looking circular economy with national and international impact. The demonstration facility will serve as a catalyst for improved preprocessing, mechanical and chemical recycling technologies, circular design, and scaling up to new materials and products. Enhanced collection, sorting, and pre-treatment are crucial requirements for this endeavor. For example, it has been estimated that this could potentially lead to a reduction of approximately 0.8 million tons per year in incinerated waste, a CO2 reduction of 1.6 million tons per year, and an economic value of €800 million per year in new materials for the largest chemical cluster in Antwerp-Rotterdam-Ruhr-Rhein Area (ARRRA). On a European scale, the impact would be tenfold.
International collaboration
International collaboration is a key element within Brightlands Circular Space. Collaborative initiatives include CPNL, Circular Regions and Cities Initiative, Hubs4Circularity, and the Horizon Europe Consortium Syschemiq. Brightlands Circular Space is also a partner in the World Economic Forum’s Net Zero Industrial Cluster. These collaborations aim to facilitate circular scaling up, consortia formation as well as contribute to adapting regulations, legislation, and financing for the emerging circular plastics industry.
Lia Voermans states: “After several years of preparation, we are extremely proud to work with funds, investors, and stakeholders to realize this unique circular demonstration facility. The growth fund initiative CPNL has played a crucial role in making the decisive step towards the establishment of this open facility, which will also be available for other participants and partners of the CPNL program. Through collaboration with industrial and various other private and public partners, we can now demonstrate in practice what is possible for circular plastics on an industrial scale.”
The groundbreaking for the construction of Brightlands Circular Space is expected in spring 2024. The facilities are projected to be fully operational by spring 2026.
