Circular Plastics Netherlands is an initiative backed by the Dutch National Growth Fund, which has set aside €35.5 million to foster innovation in plastics recycling through 2025. The application process for subsidies begins on February 18 and will conclude on May 20, 2025.

Source: SustainablePlastics

The funding is structured with €4.5 million allocated for research projects and €31 million designated for showcases. Research projects can secure funding up to €1.5 million, while showcases may be awarded up to €3 million. If a showcase is part of a demonstration project, the funding cap can increase to €7.5 million. Research projects can run for a maximum of four years, whereas showcases can last up to five years.

The focus areas for research projects include microplastics, the development of in-line analysis techniques for sorting processes, automatic sorting of large plastic waste items, and the optimization of mixed plastic waste flows for recycling. Showcases are encouraged to concentrate on several specific practices, including mechanical recycling of polyolefin packaging, recycling of polyolefin food contact packaging, dissolution recycling of household or industrial plastic waste, depolymerization, recycling of technical plastics, soft PVC recycling, carpet recycling, and thermochemical recycling of mixed plastic waste streams.

To apply for funding, partnerships are required, consisting of at least two organizations, one of which must be a company. It is also stipulated that companies or research organizations involved in the partnership must have a branch or subsidiary established in the Netherlands. Applicants may join multiple projects, provided they submit separate applications for each.

The evaluation of applications will be based on several criteria, such as the contribution to the Circular Plastics Netherlands initiative, the level of innovation, the potential for success in the Dutch market and society, and the overall quality of the project and partnership.

The Netherlands has set ambitious recycling goals, aiming to recycle 50% of all plastics by 2030 and achieve complete plastics circularity by 2050. According to Eurostat, the country managed to recycle about 45% of its plastics packaging in 2022, though the landscape has faced challenges, including the bankruptcy filings of seven plastics recyclers in the Netherlands in 2024.