Chemie Magazine (VNCI): “Plastic won’t disappear in the coming decades – so make sure it’s produced circularly.”

He could have taken things easier after a long career at Dow Chemicals, but Arnd Thomas (60) stepped enthusiastically into a new adventure. In January of this year, he became CEO of Xycle Holding, a young Rotterdam-based company focused on the chemical recycling of plastics that are difficult to process through mechanical recycling. Construction of a plant in the Europoort is in full swing.

Things have moved fast. In March this year, Xycle announced that financing for the construction of its first commercial-scale plant had been secured. With support from Dow, ING, Invest-NL and Vopak – supplemented by, among others, a loan from Polestar Capital – the groundwork could begin. If all goes according to plan, the plant will be operational in Q4 of 2026. After that, it will be time to scale up further in the Netherlands and expand into other European countries, such as Spain and Germany.

What does Xycle Holding do?
Thomas: “We work on the chemical recycling of plastics that are difficult to process mechanically. Our focus lies on food packaging and medical/hygienic plastic applications (PCR). We convert these plastics into oil, which replaces fossil naphtha and is used again to produce new plastics – thus contributing to circularity. Our company rests on three pillars. The first is the construction of the plant. We have secured all the necessary capital for that, amounting to eighty to one hundred million euros. The second pillar is R&D, where we focus on scaling up. And the third pillar is expansion. The plant we are currently building in Rotterdam is one we aim to replicate across several European locations, with the possibility to scale each site even further.”

The chemical industry is an important target customer for you. Will the volumes eventually be large enough to supply this sector?
“The demand for recycled plastic in the chemical industry is enormous, but scaling chemical recycling is complex and takes time. Xycle, along with several other companies working with this new technology, is still at an early stage. Most of us reach yields of around twenty thousand tons per plant. We receive about thirty thousand tons of plastic feedstock. We sort it, extract a polyethylene – polypropylene fraction, and feed that into reactors, where it is converted at low temperature into oil and gas. The oil is a kind of naphtha for the chemical industry, and we use the gas internally to heat the reactors. Scaling up to one hundred thousand tons – the target everyone wants – is not easy. You cannot quintuple these processes in two or three years. But I am convinced we will get there.”

A major dilemma for startups and scale-ups: a healthy business model. How does Xycle approach this?
“We are more expensive than naphtha -there’s no point denying it. Fossil naphtha is cheaper. But our long-term value lies in something far more important. Our CO₂ footprint is significantly lower than that of virgin naphtha. And if you look at where plastic ends up now – landfills or incinerators – that simply cannot be the future. We must move toward a circular economy; for me, that is the license to operate for the plastics ecosystem. That mindset should be stronger within government too. It must set the right frameworks for achieving true circularity. We cannot keep importing cheap plastic by the container load from China while the industry here must meet increasingly strict requirements.”

How can the government play a guiding role?
“Regulation is fine. But when The Hague – or Brussels – keeps changing the rules, it becomes impossible for companies to participate. A requirement to blend in ten percent recycled content suddenly becomes five, while others say it should be 25 or 35 percent. You can’t build factories on that basis. This lack of consistency also discourages investors—you cannot tell financiers that plans have changed and you’ve essentially spent five years waiting for demand. Stable and clear regulations are essential for investment and plant construction. The government must ensure fair competition, and ministries should collaborate more closely.”

“If you want to recycle here, you need a substantial chemical industry.”
The recycling market is struggling, and several companies collapsed in the past year. Why will Xycle succeed?
“Our focus is chemical recycling, while most failures have occurred in mechanical recycling. The mistake we make in the market is focusing too much on quantity—how many kilos you process. In mechanical recycling, the calculation is simple: one kilo in equals one kilo out. In chemical recycling, you retain about eighty percent, but the output has superior quality. We should focus more on that quality and its long-term value for sustainability and circularity. Both forms of recycling are essential. It is not ‘or’, but ‘and’. That sense of urgency is sometimes missing in The Hague. Mechanical recycling works well for items like PET bottles, while chemical recycling is better suited for food packaging and medical/hygienic plastics. You need both—and it doesn’t help when the government decides which solution is “best” purely based on volume.”

When will Xycle be a commercial success?
“I expect the plant to be running healthily by 2027. We are working with proven technology that was actually developed in India in 2008. They literally started with a pressure cooker filled with different plastics. It quickly took on serious shape, attracting interest from various parties. In 2018, further pilot projects took place in Rotterdam, and companies like Vopak became involved. I cannot give guarantees—starting a plant is not like buying a car, turning the key and driving off. There are ups and downs. But I am convinced success will follow.”

What are your ambitions for the next five years?
“My ambition is to have a Europoort plant that serves as a showcase. That we run well, and that other parties approach us asking whether we can build such a plant for them. After 2027, our focus will be on expansion: on one hand scaling up the Europoort location, and on the other identifying suitable sites for new plants. That could be in the Netherlands, but countries like Germany and Spain are also very interesting. We will always focus on regions with established chemical clusters because these industries form an important customer base—and the beautiful German term ‘Verbund’ says it all.”
“Stable and clear regulation is essential for investment and plant construction.”

And looking toward 2050: what will make you proud when you look back on your work at Xycle?
“I hope that by then we will have made the transition to circularity—a circular system that is effective, creates value, and uses fossil resources only for products, not energy. Whether we succeed depends on speed and economic factors. Europe can be a front runner, but if our circular products end up costing three or four times as much as those from China, we will have a hard time. Still, I believe other countries and regions will eventually recognize that circularity is the way forward. As that shift happens, the use of fossil feedstocks will decline. Everyone now understands that filling deserts and rivers with plastic—or burning it—is not a viable approach. Plastic is valuable, and it will not disappear in the coming decades. But then produce it circularly. My personal drive is to make Xycle a success and build an organization where people can grow and take a leading role in advancing circularity.”

Xycle Holding recently joined the VNCI. Thomas explains this decision:
“The VNCI is, in my view, an excellent representative for the chemical industry in the Netherlands. I meet knowledgeable people who understand our sector thoroughly and can create connections both upstream and downstream. From Xycle’s side, I hope to act as a bridge between the chemical sector, waste collectors and processors, and brand owners. Conversely, I hope we can jointly demonstrate how essential chemistry is—and that without a chemical industry, recycling simply wouldn’t exist. If you want to recycle here, you need a substantial chemical industry, in the Netherlands and in Europe.”

Text: Ingeborg Abendanon
Published: 02.12.2025

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