After investing €105 million, Indaver is celebrating the first recycled raw materials leaving its Plastics2Chemicals (P2C) installation in Antwerp. This milestone is a historic moment for the circular economy. Derived from end-of-life plastic waste, these building blocks can be used in applications like food packaging. P2C offers a solution for end-of-life plastics, producing recycled chemical building blocks with virgin-equivalent quality.
Indaver
Indaver’s first recycled raw materials from its P2C installation in Antwerp have been delivered
“With Plastics2Chemicals, we have succeeded in converting waste into valuable raw materials. We achieved this result by combining innovation, vision, entrepreneurship, collaboration, and craftsmanship,” said Karl Huts, CEO of Indaver. “I am particularly proud of our team: their expertise and determination have made this sustainable solution possible. This shows that we can really make a difference in the circular economy.”
Jo Brouns, Flemish Minister of Environment and Agriculture, will be present for the official opening of the P2C installation. His attendance highlights the investment’s importance for Flanders and Europe, in terms of innovation and sustainable material flows.
“This installation demonstrates how Flanders is contributing to European ambitions and the transition to a circular economy through reliable innovation,” said Brouns. “By recovering valuable materials from waste, we strengthen our strategic autonomy and build a sustainable future for our industry and society. It also shows that there is room in Flanders and Europe for state-of-the-art investments in chemical recycling.”
About P2C
P2C is based on a thermal depolymerisation technology developed by Indaver, which works by breaking down plastics into their original monomers. With further purification, including distillation, these building blocks gain virgin-equivalent quality. This ensures plastics can be used in contact-sensitive applications, which isn’t achievable with conventional recycling methods.
P2C’s integrated model provides advanced recycling, packaging material sorting, pre-treats materials into pallets, allows for sustainable residue processing, and offers logistic services. Users can maintain their existing processes without extra investment, while P2C manages and optimises the entire chain.
The P2C is the result of collaborations with universities and knowledge institutions, ensuring the process was validated step by step, focusing on technological robustness, thorough purification, safety, and scalability. The Antwerp installation is built on these foundations, with further optimisations of the process on an industrial scale expected. Indaver will continue to invest in research and innovation with its R&D centre for advanced polymer recycling, working on further optimising the process and preparing for future applications and scaling.
Erik Moerman, Director Sales & Development P2C, added, “After years of intensive research, testing, and collaboration with universities and partners, it is a special moment to now be able to deliver recycled products to our customers. We are proud of the innovative process we have developed and optimised, and which now proves, on an industrial scale, that high-quality recycling of plastics is possible.”
Regulatory pressure
The European Commission is targeting a 55% recycling rate for plastic packaging by 2030, but the current effective recycling rate stands at 41%. Additional targets have been set for the use of 10% to 25% recycled material in new packaging. P2C is set to play a key role in closing this recycling gap.
Partnerships in the value chain
Indaver has long-term contracts with European packaging waste leaders, like Fost Plus and Citeo. On the customer side, they have petrochemical collaborations with INEOS Styrolution and Trinseo, Borealis, TotalEnergies, and Neste. These partnerships validate the P2C business model and ensure a stable supply of waste streams and sales of recycled products.
“I am proud that the energy needed for the recycling process is supplied by green electricity from our own local energy cluster with solar and wind energy. Moreover, we also offer a sustainable solution for the residue streams on-site. This shows what is possible when you think and act circularly,” concluded Stefan Opdenakker, Director Treatment Industrial Waste Services BeNeFra.