Wednesday, December 8th, 11.00-12.30, Rotterdam Ahoy

During this break-out session chemical site Chemelot, disruptive innovation campus Brightlands Chemelot Campus and knowledge institute Brightsite, discuss opportunities and challenges while making the chemical industry more sustainable. In three table rounds, with various guests from the business community and government, we debate how the transition of the second largest integrated chemical park in Europe is being tackled.

Under the leadership of Wim Raaijen (Industrielinqs) and with Klazien Ebbens (manager sustainability OCI Nitrogen) as co-host, we take a closer look at the transformation of the chemical industry at the Chemelot site in Geleen. With the help of knowledge and new technologies, which originate from the campus and are further developed from lab and pilot plant scale to ultimately commercial scale, we take on the challenge together.

Round table 1 – Taking on the challenge together with unique collaboration at Chemelot

Loek Radix, Executive director Chemelot, Eric Appelman, CTO, Brightlands Chemelot Campus and Arnold Stokking, Managing director Brightsite have a open conversation about the opportunities and challenges in realizing the Chemelot strategy to become the most sustainable, competitive and safe chemical site in Europe. Because of the great synergy, originating from the DSM past, the Chemelot site is the perfect place to realize this transition based on a site-wide strategy. In practise an extremely ambitious mission.

Round table 2 – Let’s get concrete with knowledge, infrastructure and talent required for the development of technologies and applications on a large scale.

During this round table, we will discuss a number of concrete projects that are taking place on Chemelot, Brightlands Chemelot Campus and within the Brightsite program lines. How do they contribute to the Chemelot strategy? What are the challenges involved? Jos Visser, Operations director Sabic, explains how the chemical company is replacing petroleum-based naphtha with waste plastics, and in doing so, making steps towards a sustainable circular economy for plastics. 

Denis Aarssen Project manager RWE talks about the disruptive Furec project towards a process that enables the replacement of gray hydrogen by hydrogen produced from household waste. What are the challenges before the first circular hydrogen factory starts up in 2025?

Pete Rowe, CEO and co-founder Deep Branch, one of the many innovative start-ups located on Brightlands Chemelot Campus, uses produced CO2 to make proteins with a high added value. Chemelot is pre-eminently the breeding ground where the knowledge, infrastructure and talent required for the development of a technology such as this comes together to be applied on a large scale.


Round table 3 – Challenges facing government, what is needed to make this transition a successful transition from a social perspective

We conclude this break-out session with a conversation with representatives who critically reflect on the industrial transition that the parties at Chemelot are working on from a broader social perspective. Tys van Elk, Managing director of LIOF will highlight the enormous opportunities a more sustainable Chemelot site offers Limburg by becoming the first real circular hub in Europe. Effective cooperation between the many regional stakeholders is the biggest challenge.

Jacqueline Vaessen, the brand new ambassador of ‘Topsector Chemie’, will discuss the need for an integrated approach by the national government to enable the transition of the chemical industry in the Netherlands. As a thought leader Hans van der Loo will make the attendees aware of a number of challenges on the way to 2030 and beyond, based on his broad, international experience. Challenges that probably many were not aware of before the EIES 2021.