This year, five recycling companies in the Netherlands were forced to cease operations due to economic and competitive pressures. However, one of them is making a comeback.

Source: SustainablePlastics

Ioniqa, based in Eindhoven, Netherlands, filed for bankruptcy protection in October, concluding that it would take too long to achieve positive cash flow from its advanced polyester recycling technology.

Today we announce that Ioniqa is making a restart. This preserves the unique knowledge and expertise of the company in order to realise a sustainable solution for plastics. We are well aware of the current headwinds in the European plastic recycling market. We maintain our vision that advanced plastic recycling will become big, partly in view of the ambitious EU targets from 2030 onwards.

The company, which specializes in glycolysis-based chemical recycling, originated from the Eindhoven University of Technology. Since the summer of 2019, it has been operating a demonstration facility at Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, Netherlands. This demo plant, with an annual capacity of 10,000 tonnes, produces recycled PET suitable for food-contact applications. In simpler terms, PET waste is immersed in a glycol solution, causing the polymer's molecular structure to dissolve slowly. The resulting monomers can then be used to create virgin-quality PET, which is safe for food applications.

In January, Ioniqa secured funding from Infinity Recycling’s Circular Plastics Fund to help scale up its operations and bring its technology to market, including expanding its feedstock to polyester fibers. However, by October, it became evident that large-scale deployment of its PET depolymerization technology was "economically unfeasible" under current market conditions and the company's existing setup. The company also criticized the authorities for failing to ensure timely implementation of regulated mandatory standards for meaningful recycling levels, stating that these standards are "too far out into the future."

Moving forward, Ioniqa plans to reduce its workforce by approximately half and shut down its Geleen facility as part of its downsizing strategy. While the company will continue to develop its technology, the emphasis will shift to selling licenses to financially capable companies to ensure success. According to Ioniqa, several interested parties have already come forward.