Europe is turning potato waste into sustainable chemicals

Rather than building a new facility from scratch, the project will retrofit part of Royal Avebe’s existing production plant, demonstrating how circular chemistry can be integrated into existing manufacturing infrastructure.

Using cutting-edge fermentation and microbial processing, the biorefinery aims to minimize application on fossil and palm oil-based chemicals while creating greater resilient regional value chains.

The four-year initiative officially launched in Amsterdam in June 2026 and brings together partners from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain and Greece. If successful, the approach could provide a scalable model to turning manufacturing side-streams into commercially valuable resources across Europe.

As project coordinator Niels van Stralen noted, the goal is to show that sustainable chemistry can have become part of existing manufacturing systems at meaningful scale, helping accelerate Europe’s transition towards a greater circular economy.

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