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Partnerships

Reaching the Goal Together

Ben Richters
Chief Technology Officer

In the business world, it's often about being the best or the cheapest. Rivalry is in the nature of competition. But the participants in a market should work together. Our lesson on why good business relationships are so important.

Dr rer. nat. Albert Paparo, laboratory manager and doctor of chemistry, at work in his laboratory.
It's often the little things that can make a big difference. In our laboratory, Dr Albert Paparo, who holds a doctorate in natural sciences, works with just such small things: molecules.
Dr rer. nat. Albert Paparo, laboratory manager and doctor of chemistry, at work in his laboratory.
It's often the little things that can make a big difference. In our laboratory, Dr Albert Paparo, who holds a doctorate in natural sciences, works with just such small things: molecules.

With the competition at the start

In a market that is only just emerging, competitors are often colleagues. It's a small world, people know each other. As specialists in the circular economy of plastics, we at enespa are in the process of establishing the market for chemical recycling together with a handful of other companies. Building our market is hard work. Together we succeed.

We make our high-tech laboratory available to the public.

As pioneers, we can only draw on existing knowledge to a very limited extent. We have to prove ourselves. Convince people. Build up structures and find specialists. And all this with limited financial resources. That doesn't leave us much energy for rivalry.

Joint research

In the small circle of plastic waste recyclers, we are currently the only company in the world that produces oil from mixed plastic using pyrolysis and that has its own research department with a high-tech laboratory. Under the direction of Dr Albert Paparo a laboratory has been created with the most advanced analytical equipment to determine the physical and chemical properties of our products.

These services will be made publicly available in the future. We are currently in the process of having our laboratory in Hamburg certified and accredited. As one of the few specialists in this field, we support our competitors in analysing their samples. The quality of the output is the be-all and end-all in chemical recycling.

Market development

Everyone has something they can't or don't want to do. For us at the moment, it's selling the systems, especially on the US and Australian markets. That is why we have joined forces with sales partners, including Blue Fuel (USA) and Plastoil (Australia).

Thanks to our sales partners, we can utilise our resources for the Plant engineering and operation of the systems.

By working together, we increase our efficiency because we can focus on our core competency: establishing the circular economy of plastics. We do not only build chemical recycling plants, we also use them ourselves here in Germany. This gives us first-hand practical knowledge and we are constantly working on improvements for the next generation of our machines.
 
Thanks to our sales partners, we can use our resources for Plant engineering and operation of the systems. We are thus providing what our common market needs most urgently right now: practical proof that chemical recycling works and is now also economically viable. Of course, our development costs still exceed the income from our in-house oil production at the moment. But that will change.

Consortia

The aviation industry does it, the automotive industry does it and banks do it: they form alliances to pursue joint projects or do business together. We, the pioneers of chemical plastic recycling, do the same. But we remain legally, economically and juridically independent. We continue to develop independently.

We are not closing the plastic cycle by producing an oil that then serves as fuel. That is not our goal.

Everyone can specialise in their areas of the new market and thus contribute to the stability of the system. enespa's contribution is to establish a quality standard for the oils so that they can be sold worldwide in the form of a tradable naphtha . Naphtha is also important because it can be used to produce the plastic that the industry needs. This is the only way to close the plastic cycle. Our aim is not just to produce an oil that then serves as fuel.

A slice of the cake

The way I see it: we always act in the interests of the circular economy and we do this together with partners. As a whole, we solve the problem. We can't do it alone. We and our competitors are laying the foundations on which other companies will soon be able to build. What we are doing now is pioneering.

A world without plastic waste. With clean beaches, forests and meadows. That is a truly mammoth task.

The future competition will have it easier. And that's a good thing. Because we are still a long way from our vision: von einer Welt ohne Plastik-Abfall. Mit sauberen Stränden, Wäldern und Wiesen. Eine wahre Mammutaufgabe. Wer dieses grössere Ziel betrachtet, für den ist jeder Mitbewerber ein Hoffnungsschimmer. Darum ist mir jeder, der so verrückt ist, sich in unserem Markt zu versuchen, als Kollege herzlich willkommen.

Portrait of Ben Richters
Author

Ben Richters

Portrait of Ben Richters
Chief Technology Officer
Member of the Board of Directors
After completing his technical training and gaining initial professional experience in the automotive sector, Ben Richters transitioned into mechanical engineering. As a graduate engineer, he shifted his focus to plant engineering, particularly in the field of petrochemical industry. In 2015, he became an entrepreneur in the green tech circular economy industry. He joined enespa in mid-2022 as the developer of the enespa pyrolysis plant prototype. Outside of work, he finds balance in timber construction. He loves spending time with his family at the harbour in Hamburg.
b.richters@enespa.com
+49 151 583 82 927

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The road to a circular economy for plastics is a long one. However, we are not travelling this path alone, but together with you. Celebrate with us when we come one step closer to our goal.

 
 
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The road to a circular economy for plastics is a long one. However, we are not travelling this path alone, but together with you. Celebrate with us when we come one step closer to our goal.

 
 
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