Circular economy

Most of the substances currently used in industry come from the ground: from petroleum, natural gas and even coal. When these are processed, CO₂ is released into the atmosphere. By reusing raw materials, we avoid this as much as possible. Port of Antwerp-Bruges therefore supports industry to reuse raw materials as a basis for new chemical processes and products. This is called circular chemistry.

Together with companies in our port, we therefore look for solutions to make sustainable use of natural resources. One application of circular chemistry, for example, is processing plastic waste into chemical building blocks. From oil, we make plastic granules that can then be used in, among others, the medical sector, energy sector or for packaging.

Together with several large chemical companies, we are developing infrastructure to capture and store CO₂ on a large scale in empty gas fields in the North Sea, also known as Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS). By 2030, we want to capture half of the 18 million tonnes of CO₂ that the port emits every year. In the next step, we will reuse that CO₂ on a large scale for the production of a variety of products.

At the port, we reuse materials and raw materials, but we also focus on exchanging them. Pure water is an important raw material for industry. Together with the University of Antwerp, we are mapping out which companies in the port can reuse or exchange water in order to counteract scarcity during dry months.

We want to attract new business and encourage the existing industry at the port to make the transition to a circular economy. For this, we are creating the necessary space, developing the necessary infrastructure and encouraging innovation. The port area is a 'living lab', an open innovation platform where innovative technologies can be tested and can develop.

In Antwerp, various partners are working together on the first open access heat grid in Belgium. The treatment processes at Indaver release significant amounts of heat. This heat is already being used for the company's own business processes and to generate electricity. The residual heat remaining after the generation of electricity is still suitable for heating applications.

Together with Indaver, we are providing a basic grid for industry, to which Fluvius will subsequently connect a residential heat grid on behalf of the city of Antwerp. When the pipeline network is fully constructed and operational, this heat grid will account for annual CO₂ savings of 80,000 tons. A unique feature of this grid is that it will be an 'open access' network: it will be open to additional sources and buyers of heat who wish to join at a later stage.

Together with the Flanders Institute for Logistics (VIL) we are exploring the potential of setting up a recycling hub, a kind of circular (plastics) cluster, with a view to closing materials circuits. The goal of this Antwerp Recycling Hub is to bring together and support the companies involved to jointly develop and implement innovative recycling activities.

What is a waste stream for one company may be a valuable raw material for another. Industrial symbiosis is the high-end utilisation of residual flows from one company in another company, that reuses or recycles them.

Zeebrugge has various sites where projects relating to the circular economy can be developed. As such, the areas that may or may not be considered for the future are currently being carefully looked into.