Grant companies to research circular plastic

Companies making plastic products can apply for grants from June 18, 2024, to investigate how to start using more circular plastic. A total of €49 million is available for this until 2030.

This will allow plastic processors to conduct technical tests to investigate whether they can replace some of the fossil plastic in their production process with recycled or bio-based plastic. Recycled plastic is plastic from waste that can be reused as a plastic raw material after collection and processing. Bio-based plastic is made from plants (residues) or algae, for example.

Plastic is currently made primarily from fossil raw materials such as petroleum and natural gas. Because these raw materials are finite and a lot of CO2 is released during production, companies that make plastic (part) products must start using more recycled and bio-based plastic.

Because these raw materials are finite and a lot of CO2 is released during production, companies that make plastic (part) products must start using more recycled and bio-based plastic.

Less fossil, more recycled and bio-based plastics

The subsidy scheme is part of a broader package of measures to use a higher percentage of recycled or bio-based materials in new plastics. Think, for example, of sugarcane-based plastic, which is processed in drinking bottles.

In the Netherlands, about 8% of plastic (part) products are currently made with recyclate. Bio-based plastic is still used very little. That percentage needs to go up.

Minister Mark Harbers: "We want to get rid of the use of fossil raw materials. Not only as a source of energy, but also as a raw material for things we make, such as plastic. The goal is for the Netherlands to be climate neutral and fully circular by 2050. This means an economy in which we keep reusing raw materials and in which virtually no waste remains. We desperately need the business community to achieve this and with subsidies like this one we are helping them to make the transition from fossil to renewable raw materials."

National circular plastic standard

The cabinet is working to introduce a national circular plastic standard (NCPN). This means that an increasing percentage of recycled or bio-based material will be used in new plastics in the Netherlands from 2027. This subsidy scheme is being made available in conjunction with the introduction of the NCPN and is part of a package of a total of €267 million in subsidies to promote circular plastics.

The grant was created in consultation with the plastic processing industry. The scheme is set up by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and implemented by the Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland.