First Uppact demo plant opened by Queen Máxima

On Wednesday, April 1, the demo plant of the new recycling company UPPACT in Farmsum was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Máxima. This took place during a festive gathering, in the presence of more than 100 invited guests.

The new, innovative company will process 4,000 tons of plastic and textiles per year into building and construction materials, including poles, planks and beams. In doing so, UPPACT prevents this waste from ending up in the incinerator and substantially reduces emissions of CO2 and other gases. A strong practical example of the circular economy!

After the official opening, Queen Máxima was given a tour of the plant. She spoke with the management, employees and partners involved about the development of the company.

"Globally, mixed plastic is the largest unresolved waste stream," says Jan Jaap Folmer, CEO of UPPACT. "It is precisely this stream - which is now largely incinerated - that we can process into new building materials. Thus, waste literally becomes raw material. This DEMO factory shows that it can be done. But to make a real impact, we need to scale up quickly. We can't do that alone - we need the whole chain for that. And make no mistake. This can become very big, or even must become very big, precisely to make that plastic waste problem smaller."

During the opening, Prof. Dr. Francesco Picchioni (Faculty of Chemical Engineering, University of Groningen) emphasized the importance of solutions for the most difficult plastic streams:

"Of all the plastic waste we collect and separate, there always remains a residual stream of about 10 to 20 percent. This is mixed, contaminated material that existing recycling methods can hardly cope with and which is now largely incinerated. That is precisely where the biggest challenge for the circular economy lies."

Whereas chemical recycling is often considered for these streams, UPPACT takes a different approach. Using a patented mechanical technology - the UnWastor - mixed plastic streams are directly converted into new building materials without extensive pre-processing.

This approach is distinguished by a high material yield, significantly lower costs and great tolerance for contamination and interfering substances. As a result, a residual stream that until now had no economic value is still being utilized in sustainable applications.

"UPPACT is the second scale-up we are facilitating in the CIC (Chemport Innovation Center)," says Bart Jan Hoevers, CEO of Groningen Seaports. "Here in the Eems Delta we are laying out the red carpet, so to speak, for start-ups that want to grow quickly. They often arise from an idea in the attic. In the scale-up phase, they have to put those ideas into practice. Therefore, scale-ups are especially looking for larger business space, more electricity and water, advanced infrastructure and various permits. Here, all that is available! Because we are located in the middle of a chemical area, more is possible here than elsewhere in the Netherlands. With our ecosystem, we are the ideal incubator for innovative and industrial scale-ups and contribute concretely to the circular economy. We help companies establish contacts with knowledge institutions such as the RuG and the Hanze, with other companies and with governments."

"For industrial scale-ups, access to capital is often the biggest challenge," said Sytze Hellinga, Investment Manager NOM. "Commercial banks rarely finance an initial factory. Venture capital is also reluctant for capital-intensive manufacturing companies with a relatively high technological risk. Regional development companies like us therefore play a key role in connecting innovation and capital. And that is very important! The Netherlands still needs many more startups and scale-ups to realize the major transitions."

"Financially, NOM certainly plays a key role for us, along with the Groninger Growth Fund," Folmer says. "We were also able to benefit from subsidies from the European Just-Transition-Fund (JTF). UPPACT is also counting on the support of NOM and others for the further scaling up and rollout of the concept. "Cooperation with all stakeholders is important, we cannot do it alone. To make an impact we are going to further scale up the UnWastor concept quickly. In the Netherlands, Europe and perhaps beyond. Because this just has to become very big to make impact."