Plastic recycling plant to be built in the Netherlands

A newly formed company called Quality Circular Polymers (QCP) has announced plans to build a plastics recycling facility in the Netherlands specializing in the handling of polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE).

The facility is expected to cost €75 million (US$104 million), with €35 million (US$48 million) to be invested in the first phase of the project, which is slated to be complete by the end of 2015. Financing for the project came from a consortium that included the venture capital firm Chemelot Ventures, NV Industriebank LIOF and the waste management and recycling firm SITA.

QCP is an initiative of two entrepreneurs: Huub Meessen and Marc Houtermans, both with extensive experience in the petrochemical industry.

In addition to assisting in the financing for the project, SITA, a part of Suez Environnement, will supply the new facility with plastic scrap. When operational the plastics recycling plant will have the capacity of 100,000 metric tons per year and will be built in three phases.

“With the end product in mind, we reach out to co-develop grades for prime applications. That is why it is important that SITA will take care of the backward integration into raw materials, so we can guarantee a reliable supply to customers in high-end applications,” says Meessen, CEO of QCP.

Herman Snellink, managing director of SITA Netherlands, says, “With QCP, we will realize a win-win situation, as we will enter downstream markets, creating value from our raw materials. This way we can close the loop, in line with our vision and the vision of many of our customers.”

Marc Houtermans, COO of QCP, notes the importance of Chemelot as the site for the plant. “We will be based at the Chemelot site, the polymer hotspot, with on-site utilities, direct access to Chemelot Campus and in the heart of the main customer and supply base. We have the ambition to create a factory of the future, with leading technologies in a modular and flexible set-up, to create sustainable jobs for the region.”