BlueChem wins prestigious European award for sustainable chemistry
The innovative ecosystem for sustainable chemistry in Antwerp—with chemistry incubator BlueChem as its centerpiece—has won European awards. Yesterday, the city of Antwerp not only won the prestigious European Enterprise Promotion Award (EEPA) in the category ‘Supporting the Sustainable Transition’, but also received the Grand Jury Prize for the best project across all categories. Together with pre-incubator BlueApp and the NextGen District in the port of Antwerp, BlueChem is transforming Europe's largest chemistry cluster into an international hotspot for sustainable chemistry and the circular economy.
With the European Enterprise Promotion Award (EEPA), the European Commission is recognizing Antwerp's innovative ecosystem for sustainable chemistry, in which the city, companies, sector organizations, and knowledge institutions work closely together. Since 2006, the award has been highlighting the most inspiring projects for innovative entrepreneurship in Europe. This year, 386 projects were submitted from 30 European countries. At the award ceremony in Copenhagen, the city of Antwerp and BlueChem emerged as winners as European leaders in sustainable chemistry.
Unique cooperation model
The jury particularly praised the Antwerp collaboration model that stimulates sustainable chemistry: from laboratory research to industrial production. At the Blue Gate Antwerp eco-business park, the chemistry of the future is conceived and developed in the BlueApp pre-incubator and the adjacent BlueChem incubator, two complementary initiatives to successfully scale up promising innovations to industrial applications.
The BlueApp pre-incubator brings together the expertise of the University of Antwerp with start-ups developing groundbreaking innovations in sustainable chemistry: from carbon recycling to sustainable hydrogen.
In the chemistry incubator BlueChem, a collaboration between essenscia, the city of Antwerp, POM Antwerp, and VITO, start-ups and scale-ups can further develop their innovations thanks to specialized lab infrastructure, extensive customized services, and a strong network that connects start-ups with international chemical companies, universities, and research centers. BlueChem is also home to Catalisti, the spearhead cluster for innovation in chemistry and plastics, which, in collaboration with the five Flemish universities, also coordinates the Flemish government's Moonshot program for industrial climate innovation.
In the NextGen District in the port of Antwerp, on the former site of Opel Antwerp, companies can build pilot and demo installations to test and scale up their innovations in an industrial context. This port area is set to become a leading testing ground for circular chemistry and advanced recycling technologies. The first investment projects by BlueChem companies have already been announced here. BlueChem will also construct a new, second incubator building in this zone to double its laboratory capacity. The opening is planned for 2027.
Johan Klaps, alderman for Port and Economy of the city of Antwerp: “With this award, Antwerp confirms its position as a center of innovation and sustainable chemistry in Europe, and the city demonstrates that cooperation between government, industry, and knowledge institutions yields concrete results for people, the environment, and the economy. Innovation and the transition to a circular, sustainable industry are crucial to making our industry future-proof and competitive.”
Barbara Veranneman, Chair of BlueChem and Director of International Affairs at essenscia: "This European award is yet another international recognition of BlueChem's unique innovative strength as a driver of the sustainable chemistry of the future. It also gives a strong boost to our entrepreneurs, who continue to innovate fully even in challenging economic conditions and see chemistry as a lever for greater sustainability. Thanks to their commitment, we can convert CO2 and waste into valuable raw materials, recycle plastics more effectively, and make chemical processes more efficient and climate-friendly. That is how BlueChem helps our society move forward."
Source: essenscia
