Israel-based UBQ Materials has been awarded a €5 million grant from the EU’s Just Transition Fund (JTF).
UBQ will use the grant to improve the efficiency and sustainability of its industrial scale facility in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands. The factory converts up to 104,600 tons/annually of municipal solid waste from end-of-life sites into 80,000 tons of UBQ’s low environmental impact bio-based thermoplastic composite.
UBQ manufactures its products through a patented closed-loop process, which converts garbage waste - including food waste, mixed plastics, cardboard, paper, and dirty diapers - into a sustainable raw material for the manufacturing of everyday goods across a multitude of industries. The process works by breaking down the heterogeneous waste streams into their basic, natural components before reconstituting them to create a brand-new material. Around 70% to 80% of UBQ’s feedstock is broken down to its particulate constructs—lignin, cellulose, fibres, and sugars—and then reassembled and bound together into a matrix. The remaining 20% to 30% are mixed plastics that melt and bond into the matrix, creating a highly recyclable thermoplastic material.
“UBQ’s innovative technology converts mixed municipal household waste that would have otherwise ended up in landfills or incinerators into a new bio-based thermoplastic composite that replaces conventional plastics in durable and semi-durable applications,” said Gerwin Drent, finance manager at UBQ Materials and project leader for the JTF grant application. “This funding will enable us to accelerate the adoption of solutions that maintain or lower the facility’s energy usage while increasing output, a significant step forward for the company.”
UBQ’s patented process reaches a maximum temperature of 200 C, rendering it more energy efficient than most chemical recycling technologies requiring substantially higher temperatures to break apart polymers bonds to make new products.
The Bergen op Zoom facility also runs entirely on locally produced renewable electricity and re-uses heat generated from production. UBQ plans to install an energy monitoring system to review how output can be increased with the same energy input for greater energy efficiency using a share of the JTF grant.
By 2025, a total of 140 new jobs will be added to the local economy, including employment for people with physical and speech disabilities, UBQ said in a statement.
The grant will also be used to expand UBQ’s product portfolio. Earlier this year, the company added three bio-based material replacements and two additives to its portfolio, with applications in consumer durables, automotive, construction, and logistics.
“Concrete and asphalt production is one of the largest polluters in the construction sector,” said Drent. “We are developing alternative construction materials using our technology, including modified bitumen membrane for roofing. These new materials applied at scale can significantly reduce the volume of greenhouse gas emissions from the industry,” he added.
The JTF supports the territories most affected by the transition towards climate neutrality to avoid regional inequalities, in line with EU cohesion policy’s aim to reduce regional disparities and to address structural changes in the EU.