Zeeland has several advantages for companies in the recycling industry, according to Meiresonne. Within a 300km radius of the province, for example, there are various waste processors as well as buyers of the end product, such as pyrolysis oil. The chemical industry can use this as a replacement for fossil oil for the production of new plastics and chemicals. Moreover, Zeeland has the space to supply large batches of waste plastic via its ports.
At the end of October 2021, the Finnish company Neste (world market leader in biodiesel, sustainable aviation fuel and drop-in chemicals) and the Belgian company Ravago (world’s largest distributor and recycler of polymers) announced that they will build a chemical recycling plant at North Sea Port in Vlissingen, Zeeland. The plant will process 50 kilotons of waste plastics annually into pyrolysis oil, among other things. That corresponds to the plastic packaging waste of 1.7 million EU citizens. By 2030, Neste and Ravago aim to process more than 200 kilotons of mixed plastic waste per year.
Image: Peter Buteijn/Neste
