Recycling specialist secures environmental permit for Port of Antwerp project
Belgian-Turkish recycling specialist SynPet has secured an environmental and planning permit for a major project in the Port of Antwerp. Last year, the company announced that it intended to invest 300 million euros in a new recycling plant.
SynPet’s plant is intended to convert mixed plastic waste into a substitute for naphtha, a volatile hydrocarbon mixture distilled from crude oil. Today, much plastic is still made from petroleum. A substitute for this can be used by the petrochemical companies in the port. They can mix the substance directly into their existing naphtha feedstock during the production of new plastics.
“Antwerp offers a unique combination of infrastructure, access to raw materials and integration with Europe’s largest petrochemical cluster,” said COO Ahmet Callialp. “Our focus is now on securing the final investment decisions and on realising one of Europe’s largest state-of-the-art recycling facilities.”
According to CEO Cem Özsüer, more than 10 years of research has preceded the installation. The plant is expected to eventually convert 250,000 tonnes a year of untreated, mixed plastic waste into circular products, processing waste that is normally not recyclable using existing methods.
"Our technology proves that plastic does not have to be the problem but can be part of the solution"
One of the investors is the Swiss Kolmar Group AG. It is not clear how many jobs the site will create, but it is likely to be several dozen.
“Plastic usually ends up in landfill or in the ocean,” Özsüer said when announcing the investment in October. “The world urgently needs solutions. Our technology proves that plastic does not have to be the problem but can be part of the solution. Our technology finally closes the plastics loop. What was once waste becomes a valuable raw material once again.”
#FlandersNewsService | A printed aerial view of the Port of Antwerp at a press conference held by SynPet in October 2025 © BELGA PHOTO TOM GOYVAERTS
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