Saipem Advances Chemical Recycling Plant in the Netherlands

Saipem has been selected by Canadian clean-technology company Aduro Clean Technologies to provide preliminary engineering and procurement services for the development of its first industrial-scale chemical recycling facility in the Netherlands. The project will use Aduro’s proprietary Hydrochemolytic™ technology and is planned for Chemelot Industrial Park in Sittard-Geleen, a major integrated chemical manufacturing hub located close to the Belgian and German borders.

The proposed facility is designed to address the growing challenge of difficult-to-recycle plastic waste by converting complex plastic materials into valuable feedstocks. These recycled feedstocks can subsequently be incorporated into chemical and petrochemical manufacturing processes, supporting greater circularity across the plastics value chain.

The initial facility is expected to have a processing capacity of approximately 10,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually. By transforming waste that may be unsuitable for conventional mechanical recycling into usable chemical feedstocks, the project could provide an alternative route for recovering value from challenging plastic streams.

Under the agreement, Saipem will undertake preliminary engineering and procurement activities while assisting Aduro with the technical and economic optimization of the proposed facility. Saipem will also contribute its industrial expertise to the scale-up and commercialization of Aduro’s Hydrochemolytic™ technology.

The current phase represents an important development milestone because successful completion could support the project’s transition toward subsequent engineering, construction, and commissioning stages. Saipem’s involvement is expected to help assess the technical requirements, optimize the plant configuration and improve the commercial viability of the proposed facility.

The project also strengthens Saipem’s position in the development and industrialization of emerging technologies focused on sustainability and the circular economy. For Aduro, collaboration with an experienced engineering and project-development partner could support the transition of its technology from demonstration-scale applications toward commercial industrial deployment.

The Netherlands location provides additional strategic advantages because Chemelot hosts a large concentration of chemical and petrochemical companies and related infrastructure. Integrating recycled feedstocks into an established chemical cluster could potentially improve access to downstream customers and processing facilities.

If successfully developed, the project could contribute to Europe's efforts to increase plastic waste recovery, reduce reliance on virgin raw materials and expand advanced recycling capacity. The initiative also highlights the increasing role of chemical recycling technologies in creating alternative feedstock sources for the plastics industry.

Product Impact and Chemical Commodity Price Impact

The move is positive for the advanced chemical recycling and recycled-plastics sector because Saipem’s engineering involvement brings the project closer to commercial-scale deployment. The proposed 10,000-tonne-per-year facility could increase the availability of recycled hydrocarbon feedstocks for petrochemical production and gradually reduce dependence on virgin raw materials. In the near term, the impact on commodity prices should remain limited because the plant is still under development and its initial capacity is relatively small. Over time, greater adoption of chemical recycling could place modest downward pressure on prices of recycled plastic feedstocks while potentially reducing demand growth for virgin polymers such as polyethylene and polypropylene, depending on market penetration.