On 15 March, the DEMETO project held its mid-term review meeting in Brussels, during which the European Commission, represented by the Project Officer and the Technical Monitor, assessed the state of development of the activities.
The project Coordinator, NextChem, supported by all the Work Package leaders, presented how DEMETO has achieved all its expected technical and strategic milestones, facing many R&D challenges that are natural for a path towards the solution the plastic waste global problem. In particular:
A full re-design of the depolymerisation Reactive Unit was completed by Synesis and gr3n in March 2019, enabling the procurement phase that is currently in a deep stage of advancement;
The whole downstream purification process was validated experimentally by DTU and gr3n, providing invaluable insights needed for the engineering of the pilot plant;
NextChem concluded the major steps of design for DEMETO’s pilot plant, starting the optimisation and procurement phase of the project, aligned with a commissioning for the end of the year;
3V-Tech finalised the design of the optimal Chlor-Alkali unit, which is now being realised for an autumn commissioning;
A detailed analysis of the PET and Polyester value chains was accomplished by gr3n and NextChem, with the support of EuPC, EOG, H&M and, more generally, all partners, leading to deep restructuring of DEMETO business plan.
Overall, the feedback received from the European Commission has been therefore very positive, granting a relevant strategic support to the Consortium towards the final achievement of its very challenging results.
The next major milestone is now set for the end of the year, when the commissioning phase for the pilot plant will start. Legislative assessment for the construction site is already on-going and the civil works will start intensely at the beginning of September.
