Covestro becomes shareholder in recycling company BioBTX

As a strategic partner of BioBTX, Covestro is driving the construction of the world's first demonstration plant for the innovative BioBTX ICCP technology in the Netherlands.

The technology makes it possible to produce chemicals such as benzene, toluene and xylene from organic and mixed plastic waste. These aromatic hydrocarbons are an important component of the chemical industry and are used, for example, in the production of plastics.

Covestro has invested tens of millions of euros in the expansion of the plant in the Netherlands. In addition to Covestro, financial investors Invest-NL and Infinity Recycling are also involved in the project. Once operational, the demonstration plant will convert 20,000 tons of mixed plastic waste per year.

Following the successful scale-up of the technology over the past few years, the demonstration plant is a key intermediate step in achieving industrial scale for the technology.

"Our vision is to be fully aligned with the circular economy and climate neutrality, and we are looking for innovative solutions that can bring us closer to this goal," said Thorsten Dreier, Chief Technology Officer at Covestro, "Chemical recycling can make a significant contribution to closing the loop, and the BioBTX ICCP technology is a promising approach to recovering raw materials used in production from waste."

The investment in BioBTX is part of Covestro's venture capital program, which aims to invest in start-ups and scale-ups with innovative products, solutions or business models, thereby promoting entrepreneurial activities in the core business and its related businesses. The cooperation with BioBTX also includes two joint development agreements.

In the development projects, Covestro is investigating the possibilities of further recycling its own products and contributing its expertise in digitalization to improve plant performance. Covestro has been working with BioBTX for more than four years and has joined forces with the company in the EU-funded "Circular Foam" project, which focuses on recycling rigid polyurethane foam using pyrolysis technology.

Torsten Heinemann, Head of Innovation and Sustainability at Covestro, explains: "We are pleased to contribute our expertise in application development, digital R&D and chemical recycling to this project and thereby power a new circular ecosystem for plastic waste at the European level."

"With our participation in BioBTX and the construction of the demonstration plant, Covestro is taking an important step towards a sustainable chemical industry," says Ton Vries, CEO of BioBTX.

The demonstration plant is expected to be operational in early 2027.