Heeres teams up with industrial partner BioBTX in 2,8M Euro JTF subsidy

In an outstanding collaboration, Prof. Erik Heeres from the Engineering and Technology Institute Groningen (ENTEG) is set to play a pivotal role in an innovative project alongside industrial partner BioBTX. Together with partners from the Technical University of Eindhoven, this consortium has successfully secured a substantial Just Transition Fund (JTF) subsidy of €2.8 million. The primary objective of this initiative is to produce renewable and biobased BTX and other sustainable chemicals by harnessing the potential of combined organic and circular inputs.

The company BioBTX, seen as a pioneer in circular technology development, is the coordinator of the project, titled: "Production of Renewable and Biobased BTX and Other Sustainable Chemicals from Combined Organic and Circular Inputs." The grant will be used to develop the next stage of the BioBTX technology, to convert mixtures of biomass and plastic waste into valuable drop-in chemicals.

Project focus
The project focuses on the possibilities of developing new technology that allows for the processing of varying input streams of both biomass and plastic waste streams in different compositions and ratios into BTX and other high-value chemicals. Prof Erik Heeres receives approximately 870k€ to contribute to developing the knowledge needed for the rational design of reactors for plastic pyrolysis to aromatics such as BTX.
This unique project will make it possible for BioBTX and its partners to set the next steps in the development and improvement of the BioBTX ICCP technology, both operationally and fundamentally.

Full press release

The Just Transition Fund
The JTF is a European fund for areas most affected by the transition to a green economy. With it, the European Union aims to reduce socio-economic inequalities. The JTF stems from the European Green Deal, the programme for a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. To achieve this transition in the northern Netherlands, 330 million euros have been pledged until 2027. This and next year (2024) several subsidy schemes will be opened.
The JTF has been elaborated by the provinces of Groningen, Drenthe and Friesland, the municipality of Emmen and the Labour Market Table North Netherlands (a public cooperation between the three Northern Labour Market Regions - these are the municipality and UWV - and the three northern provinces). Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland (SNN) implements the JTF grants.