Why Unilever, Coca-Cola and Shell believe sustainable plastic can be done

There is hope again for companies that recycle or make plastics from plant-based (biobased) resources. Big companies like Coca-Cola and Unilever are buying sustainable plastic for their packaging. Even Shell now has its own "recycling plant. Growth funds are giving millions in grants to innovative startups, European legislation is going to help companies and a new, greener government is coming.

While several plastic recycling and green chemistry companies went bankrupt or shut down over the past year, a positive mood prevailed at the Transition to Circularity congress in Eindhoven, which Platform Green Chemistry, New Economy (GCNE) and growth fund programs BioBased Circular (BBC) and Circular Plastics NL (CPNL) jointly organized. That attracted over 450 visitors.

'It can be done' also applies to green chemistry

The motto of the congress was therefore: It can be done. 'We have seen that you can also win with this motto,' says Circular Plastics NL director Marc Spekreijse, referring to D66's election victory. 'We are also green and really believe it can be done. Just start. It's better to start slower now, then you'll be ready later when that market really opens up.'

The National Growth Fund program recently awarded another 18 million euro grant to nine projects in the field of plastic recycling. These submit 100 million euros in private co-financing. Another round of grants is already being prepared, together with RVO.

In the field of plant chemistry, the Biobased Circular growth fund program now has 90 initiatives underway, a number of consortia have started work, projects and studies are underway and the program was able to award 65 projects 25,000 euros each for experiments. 'It's fantastic how things are going. We are going to continue that in the coming years,' says director Herman Wories.

Platform Green Chemistry, New Economy is looking for solutions to the so-called funding gap for startups and scale-ups, after research showed that this is one of the biggest problems. "We are digging deep and making sure there is better access to money for these entrepreneurs," said chairman Arnold Stokking.