The investment is poised to become a textbook example of the circular economy. “With this new plant we are going to recycle plastics in a unique way,” says Erik Moerman, director of the new Plastic2Chemicals (P2C) facility. “We will focus on recycling polystyrene and polyolefins. Polystyrene, which can be found in yogurt jars, for example, will be converted into styrene. This styrene is so pure that it can be reused to make a new yogurt jar, with no loss of quality.”

“Polyolefins, on the other hand, are mainly found in plastic foils. They are a group of thermoplastics that include polyethylene and polypropylene. We are also going to remove those chemical components from the foils, allowing chemical companies to make new foils of the same quality with the same basic substances,” Moerman adds.

Indaver, a subsidiary of Antwerp-based global logistics player Katoen Natie, plans to operate at full capacity 3 years after the Plastic2Chemicals plant opens. “We will then be recycling 65,000 tons of material per year. This will be the largest plant of its kind in Europe,” says Moerman. “The process we use here is patented. We have worked on it for years, together with specialists from just about all of Flanders’ universities.”

By 2027, Indaver plans to build a second plastics recycling plant, most likely at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges as well, for processing only polyolefins. The plant whose foundation stone has now been laid would be focusing solely on polystyrene by then.