BioBTX has secured financing of over 80 million euros for the construction of the PETRA Circular Chemicals Plant at Chemie Park Delfzijl. The Groningen-based scale-up, which emerged from research at the Zernike Campus Groningen, is thus taking an important step toward becoming the world’s first commercial plant to convert mixed plastic waste into renewable aromatic feedstocks for the chemical industry.
The plant will produce approximately 10,000 metric tons of renewable aromatic oil per year, consisting of benzene, toluene, and xylenes (BTX), in addition to 8,000 metric tons of sustainable byproducts. Thanks to the ICCP technology developed by BioBTX, plastic waste streams are given a high-value new purpose, thereby reducing dependence on fossil raw materials and significantly lowering CO₂ emissions.
“Reaching this important milestone in the development of BioBTX is a major step toward our mission: enabling circular chemistry. I am immensely proud of the entire BioBTX team and our shareholders, whose dedication and commitment have made this possible. We are going to build the world’s first fully sustainable aromatics plant. A tremendous achievement!” said Ton Vries, co-founder and CEO of BioBTX.
After a 14-year development process—from laboratory research and a pilot plant at Campus Groningen to commercial application—BioBTX has now also made its Final Investment Decision. Construction of the plant is expected to begin in early 2027. The company then plans to roll out the technology globally through licenses to the chemical industry.
The Campus Trail at Campus Groningen is once again generating a lot of enthusiasm. So far, 500 participants have already registered for the seventh edition of the running event, which will take place on Friday, September 11.
UMCG is continuing the development of the new Central Laboratory for Diagnostics and Research (CLDR). Over the coming period, the preliminary design will be further developed into a final design, bringing the realization of the new laboratory building another step closer.
Every day, innovations with a real impact on healthcare, technology and sustainability are developed at Campus Groningen. Across the various laboratories on Zernike Campus, companies are working on technologies that help detect cancer, stop life-threatening bleeding and enable new materials for medical and chemical applications.