New Israeli company converts waste into a raw material for plastic

The Israeli company UBQ Materials has established itself in Bergen op Zoom, Brabant. By the end of 2022, a special product will be made there: a raw material for the plastics processing industry that is made from household waste.

12 January 2022

Using a patented conversion process, UBQ Materials turns landfill-destined municipal solid waste, including all organics, into UBQ™, a climate-positive, cost-competitive, and fully recyclable raw material. A sustainable replacement to virgin petroleum plastic, wood or concrete, UBQ™ is a circular solution that diverts waste and protects finite natural resources. UBQ™ is a drop-in material that can be integrated into existing manufacturing processes to reduce the carbon footprint of end-products in a wide variety of industries and applications. For example, the well-known trays of McDonald’s in South America already consist of a combination of plastic and UBQ material.

The new production location in Bergen op Zoom is the first outside Israel, says project manager Olaf Looijen. He expects to realize an annual production of 80,000 tons, which will serve the Western European market. That will create about 200 and 250 jobs for the region.

According to Looijen, UBQ is the ‘most environmentally positive thermoplastic material in the world’. Even with a ratio of only 10 to 20% UBQ material, the end product can already be climate neutral. “You save raw materials, especially petroleum. In many places in the world, household waste still ends up in landfills, where it causes the emission of methane. In the Netherlands, household waste goes into the incinerator and causes CO2 emissions. This is also prevented by converting household waste into UBQ material.”

The Brabant Development Agency (BOM), REWIN and Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) supported this company in their establishment in Brabant.

Source: BN de Stem