- 30 Sep 2025
On September 30th and October 1st, INCITE in conjunction with Cefic, conducted site visits to INEOS Inovyn site and the Covestro facility in Antwerp. These visits were organized in connection to the Cefic-INCITE promotional event. The visits provided meaningful insight into ongoing R&D initiatives and showcased how innovation is being implemented in practice to drive sustainability across the chemical sector.
INEOS INOVYN site in Antwerp (Lillo), is one of the largest chlorine and caustic soda production facilities in Europe. The visit provided insights into INOVYN (and INEOS)’s innovation projects in hydrogen, electrification, circular economy and carbon management. The site visit focused on the chlor-alkali production plant: electrolysis of brine using the membrane process for production of Cl2, H2 and NaOH / KOH (the old mercury cells have been decommissioned following BAT conclusions).
During the visit to Covestro, INCITE explored their work on chemical recycling as well as their new copolymer plant. The site visits was dedicated to the new production plant for polycarbonate copolymers. Co-polymers will give better performance in terms of fire retardancy (no PFAS); also designed for improved product properties.
Both sites illustrated not only how advanced technologies are being embedded into day-to-day operations, but also the practical and organizational challenges involved in scaling laboratory breakthroughs to full industrial deployment.
INCITE sincerely thanks Cefic, INEOS and Covestro for their warm welcome and for openly sharing their expertise. We look forward to continuing the conversation on the chemical industry’s role in shaping a more sustainable future, and on how INCITE can support the faster adoption of the innovative solutions required to achieve climate neutrality, circularity, resource efficiency, and zero-pollution goals.