Aduro Clean Technologies signs LOI for demonstration plant site – Hydrocarbon Engineering

Aduro Clean Technologies Advances Circular Economy Goals with Proposed Demonstration Plant in the Netherlands

1. Executive Summary

• Aduro Clean Technologies Europe B.V. has executed a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) for the proposed €2 million acquisition of a brownfield industrial site in the Netherlands.
• The site is the prospective location for a Demonstration Plant featuring Aduro’s Hydrochemolytic Technology (HCT), marking a significant step toward commercial-scale advanced chemical recycling.
• This initiative directly supports several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a primary focus on sustainable industry, responsible consumption, and resilient infrastructure.

2. Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

• The project promotes sustainable industrialization by deploying an innovative, water-based chemical technology (HCT) designed to modernize conventional thermal recycling systems.
• By selecting a brownfield site, Aduro commits to building resilient and sustainable infrastructure, repurposing existing industrial assets to minimize environmental impact and reduce the need for new land development.

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

• The utilization of a previously permitted industrial facility supports the sustainable regeneration of industrial land, making settlements more inclusive and sustainable by preventing urban sprawl.

SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

• The Demonstration Plant is fundamental to establishing sustainable production patterns by transforming plastic waste into certified circular feedstocks for new products.
• This directly addresses SDG Target 12.5 to substantially reduce waste generation through recycling and reuse, and supports regulatory drivers such as the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).

SDG 8 & 17: Decent Work, Economic Growth, and Partnerships

• The facility is poised to create and support skilled employment within the region’s mature circular plastics ecosystem, contributing to sustainable economic growth.
• The project strengthens partnerships (SDG 17) by fostering collaboration between technology innovators, chemical producers, converters, and recyclers to accelerate the transition to a global circular economy.

3. Strategic Rationale and Project Details

• Sustainable Infrastructure: The brownfield location offers access to existing power, natural gas, and water utilities. This approach reduces capital requirements, simplifies permitting, and accelerates the path to operational readiness, aligning with sustainable project management principles.
• Market Integration: The Netherlands provides strategic access to one of the highest global concentrations of liquid steam crackers, which can utilize the circular naphtha produced by the HCT process, ensuring robust offtake market connectivity.
• Scalability and Future Growth: While the immediate priority is the Demonstration Plant, the site preserves the option for future expansion to a commercial capacity of up to 25,000 tonnes per year, ensuring a long-term contribution to circular economy targets.

4. Projected Timeline and Milestones

1. Due Diligence Period: A defined period ending 15 January 2026.
2. Final Site Selection: A final decision is expected in January 2026, as other potential locations are being evaluated in parallel.
3. Proposed Transaction Closing: Targeted for on or before 28 February 2026, subject to customary conditions and approvals.
4. Demonstration Plant Readiness: The facility is targeted to be operational by early 2027.

5. Forward Outlook

• The successful commissioning of the Demonstration Plant will serve as a critical validation of the Hydrochemolytic technology at scale, bridging the gap between pilot-scale success and full commercial adoption.
• This structured advancement reflects the adaptability of HCT to existing industrial frameworks and reinforces Aduro’s commitment to de-risking project execution while advancing a technology capable of making significant contributions to global sustainability and climate goals.

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

  The article focuses on Aduro Clean Technologies’ development of an innovative Hydrochemolytic technology (HCT) and the establishment of a new industrial facility (Demonstration Plant). It also highlights the sustainable practice of redeveloping a brownfield site, which relates to building resilient infrastructure.

• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

  The decision to use a “brownfield industrial site” is a key aspect of sustainable land use and urban/industrial planning. This practice helps reduce urban sprawl and the environmental impact associated with developing new land, contributing to more sustainable community development.

• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

  The core purpose of Aduro’s technology is to advance the circular economy by recycling plastic waste into “certified circular feedstocks.” This directly addresses the need to reduce waste and promote sustainable production patterns, as reinforced by the mention of the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).

• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

  The article emphasizes the importance of collaboration to achieve commercial success. It mentions the need to “strengthen collaboration across the value chain” and engage with “prospective partners and offtakers,” highlighting the multi-stakeholder approach necessary for scaling up sustainable technologies.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

   • Target 9.2: Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization.

     The project represents a move towards sustainable industrialization by implementing a clean technology for chemical recycling. The article states the technology uses “lower-temperature, water-based chemistry,” suggesting a more sustainable process than conventional methods.

   • Target 9.4: Upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable.

     The selection of a “brownfield location” with “existing power, natural gas, water, and wastewater connections” is a direct example of upgrading and reusing existing infrastructure. The article notes that HCT allows for conventional systems to be “modernised through lower-temperature, water-based chemistry, benefiting from established infrastructure and supply chains.”

2. SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

   • Target 11.6: Reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities.

     By choosing to redevelop a “previously permitted industrial facility” (a brownfield site), the project avoids the environmental degradation associated with building on undeveloped land. This approach to industrial siting helps manage and reduce the overall environmental footprint of industrial activities.

3. SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

   • Target 12.4: Achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle.

     Aduro’s HCT is designed for the environmentally sound management of plastic waste. The goal is to create a “circular plastics ecosystem” and provide a sustainable solution for waste that aligns with regulations like the EU’s PPWR.

   • Target 12.5: By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.

     The Demonstration Plant is being built specifically to advance recycling. Its future expansion to a capacity of “up to 25 000 tpy” directly contributes to reducing waste by converting it into valuable new materials (“circular naphtha and certified polymers”).

4. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

   • Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships.

     The strategy described in the article depends on forming strong partnerships. It explicitly states that Europe offers an “opportunity to strengthen collaboration across the value chain” and that the plant will “accelerate the conversations that translate technical success into commercial adoption” with partners and offtakers.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

1. For SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure)

   • Investment in sustainable infrastructure: The proposed purchase price of “€2 million” for the site is a direct financial indicator of investment in sustainable industrial infrastructure.
   • Scale of sustainable industrial activity: The planned future capacity of the site, “up to 25 000 tpy,” serves as a quantitative indicator of the potential scale of this sustainable industrial operation.

2. For SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities)

   • Redevelopment of contaminated or underutilized land: The explicit selection of a “brownfield industrial site” is a direct qualitative indicator of progress in sustainable land use and urban planning.

3. For SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production)

   • National recycling rate, tons of material recycled: The plant’s future processing capacity of “25 000 tpy” is a direct indicator of the amount of plastic waste that will be recycled, contributing to national and global recycling metrics.
   • Adherence to waste regulations and standards: The article’s reference to the “European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)” implies that compliance with its “recycled-content obligations” will be a key performance indicator for the plant’s output.

4. For SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals)

   • Number of multi-stakeholder partnerships: The article implies that the number of formal agreements with “chemical producers, converters, and recyclers” as well as “prospective partners and offtakers” will be a measure of success in building the necessary collaborative ecosystem.

4. Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

SDGs	Targets	Indicators
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure	9.2: Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization.	Investment in the sustainable industrial facility (€2 million purchase price).
	9.4: Upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable.	Use of a brownfield site with existing infrastructure; Modernization of systems with lower-temperature, water-based chemistry.
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities	11.6: Reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities.	Selection and redevelopment of a brownfield industrial site.
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production	12.4: Achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes.	Implementation of Hydrochemolytic technology for plastic waste management.
	12.5: Substantially reduce waste generation through recycling and reuse.	Tons of material recycled (future capacity of up to 25,000 tpy); Meeting recycled-content obligations under the EU PPWR.
SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals	17.17: Encourage and promote effective public-private and civil society partnerships.	Number of partnerships formed with producers, converters, recyclers, and offtakers across the value chain.

Source: hydrocarbonengineering.com