The recent joint statement of several European governments related to the state of the chemical industry alerts us all to a decline which has been ongoing for some years. Competition from (often subsidised) very cheap oil and gas crackers in the Middle and Far East are destroying traditional European fossil fuel chemical production. On the one hand there is a case for protecting it with tariffs and other trade barriers, but this is a temporary fix. On the other hand we have a route to defossilization through the use of bio-based feedstocks to create a new, green chemistry.

The model has been tested (above all in Italy) and the CBEJU has financed several flagships which bring these to scale and Europe has still the chance of being leader in this sector.

New, innovative materials such as bioplastics however, are often of such a small scale that their end of life is difficult to handle- too little material to collect and recycle for example, or at costs which are socially and economically unacceptable.

How do we close the circle? Well, it needs a lot of actors to work together through the value chain and this is what the PROSPER project is attempting- from polymer producers to collection, sorting, recycling chemically and mechanically (where organic recycle is not available) and back to polymers for testing and re-use by major brands.

The Commission recognises the need for all industrial sectors to work together to create a more vibrant economy that can create new industries and employment. PROSPER is attempting to contribute to that.

Read the full statement here: https://presse.economie.gouv.fr/joint-statement-of-czech-republic-hungary-italy-netherlands-romania-slovakia-spain-and-france-about-the-european-chemicals-industry/