King Willem-Alexander opened the new Circtec plant in Farmsum at the end of January. Every year, approximately 3.5 million discarded car tires end up in landfills across Europe. All too often, these are exported from Europe and effectively dumped for incineration, with dire consequences for the environment and public health. The Circtec plant offers a powerful alternative.
At the new facility, end-of-life tires are converted through chemical recycling into circular raw materials, such as naphtha, carbon black, and renewable marine fuels. This transforms waste back into valuable raw materials, and Circtec is making a tangible contribution to a future-proof circular economy.
During the opening, CEO and co-founder Allen Timpany emphasized the importance of this step: “This is the European circular economy in action—not as a theory or slogan, but as an industrial reality. Here, problematic waste becomes an industrial raw material. Instead of extracting new fossil resources, we’re extracting value from what’s already above ground while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Just as important is that we’re laying the foundation for high-quality industrial jobs at all levels of education and skill.’
Sytze Hellinga is an investment manager at NOM: “As an investor, NOM is proud to have contributed to this groundbreaking project, together with regional and national partners. The plant strengthens the position of the Northern Netherlands as a leading region for green chemistry and will soon make a substantial contribution to making the Dutch chemical industry more sustainable.”
