Within this project, the societal relevance of increased sustainability and reduction of CO2 emissions and the opportunities to gain a leading position in the sustainable use of green raw materials and the production of biobased plastics will be addressed. Within the knowledge development project, applied research is carried out in relation to the chemical catalytic conversion of vegetable residues, the valorisation to valuable biobased intermediate and final products and the production of biobased polyesters in closed cycles (new methods of recycling). By insulating the aromatic molecules present in the crude BioBTX mixture and working up to the individual biobased buiding blocks, a major contribution is made to the realisation of a Biobased Economy. The main environmental impacts of a plastic made from xylenes or benzene throughout its life cycle are the raw material use and greenhouse gas emissions. Given the size of the market for BTX products, it is socially relevant to look at sustainable alternatives to the traditional BTX. The development of new green recyclable plastics also offers many economic opportunities for the Northern Netherlands chemical and plastic producing industry and project partners. Therefore, a knowledge development project involving the exchange of knowledge between the consortium partners with the aim of gaining societal added value is fully committed. This project differs from other projects in that the cooperation partners aim to create new value chains within the biobased economy in which all actors in the production chain are represented. In subsequent valorisation pathways, this will certainly have a positive effect on regional development in the Northern Netherlands. The main objective of this project is to develop and expand the knowledge position of the participating organisations with regard to the proposed biobased and circular solutions. New knowledge and solutions are being developed within this project, allowing the plastic industry to use more high-quality recycled (biobased) plastics, which automatically results in reduced energy consumption, waste reduction and CO2 reduction. This project develops knowledge of a completely new route for chemical catalytic conversion of vegetable residues to valuable biobased intermediate and final products and the production of sustainable (biobased and recycled) polyesters in closed cycles through new methods of recycling.In addition, the project will contribute to the development of new knowledge for the realisation of sustainable polyester production for market-distinctive polyester specialties. The starting point for each possible step for the preservation of the polyester production process is the overall life cycle, from raw material at suppliers to the final stage of the product. Sustainable polyester production can be achieved by gradually increasing % biobased raw materials in the production of polyester specialties combined with applying various forms of recycling such as mechanical upgrading of post consumer polyester to other applications, chemical upcycling by demolition of post consumer polyester to monomers and pyrolytic catalysis of waste plastic to bio-aromatics and the use of the calorific value of waste plastic for the plant’s own energy supply. The ultimate goal is to set up a polyester production system in Emmen where only biobased raw materials used in combination with recycled materials are used for the manufacture of new polyester material for market-distinctive polyester specialties that can replace polyester manufactured with fossil raw materials.
