Contribution to ACHEMA 2024
The 11th of June, our Project coordinator Kevin Van Geem participated to the ACHEMA24 session “The Role of Chemical Recycling in Europe’s Circular Economy Transition” at the Process Innovation Stage. Innovations, challenges and future of chemical recycling were the major talking points, and our project was highlighted as well.
Together with Egor Dementev (ICIS), Gert Coun (Sabic), Annick Meerschman (Cefic), Emmanuelle Maire (Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission) and Catherine Lövenich, (Covestro Deutschland AG), they were involved in a session entitled “Sustainable Carbon Cycles and Chemical Recycling”.
The European ambition to transition from a linear economy towards a sustainable circular economy calls for an array of complementary recycling options and business models. Chemical recycling can play its part in valorising end-of-life plastic waste streams, enabling the production of new chemicals including plastics. This panel debate on “Chemical Recycling” will explore the role of chemical recycling in meeting recycling targets, which demand significant and rapid scale-up of both mechanical and chemical recycling technologies. Achieving this requires a clear and supportive EU legislative framework that enhances recycled content while minimizing environmental impacts and addressing the intricacies of chemical processes. The chemical industry is at the forefront of this circular transition, with significant investments in chemical recycling capabilities already underway.