The location factors for plastic to oil companies

This research is done for the department of Maritime Affairs form the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment. In this research the location factors for worldwide plastic to oil companies are gathered and compared with the location factors needed for the Dutch plastic to oil companies. The Dutch location factors contribute to find and explain possible locations for Dutch plastic to oil companies. From the theory a list with possible location factors is created. Those 14 location factors are tested with worldwide plastic to oil companies, from the US, Europe, and Japan. The location factors are classified in three different categories: necessary, conducive and negligible. The necessary location factors are highway distance, to locate on a business park, the availability of feedstock, and the availability of a sales market. Interviews are held with four different Dutch plastic to oil companies to investigate the location factors for Dutch plastic to oil companies. From the interviews a list with location factors for Dutch plastic to oil companies is created. The same classification is used for the location factors: necessary, conducive and negligible. The necessary location factors for Dutch plastic to oil companies are highway distance, port distance, to locate on a business park, the availability of feedstock, certified demand, the availability of a sales market, and the willingness of a seaport. Three of the location factors are not necessary according to the worldwide plastic to oil companies, namely port distance, certified demand and willingness of a seaport. Most of the Dutch plastic to oil companies wants to establish in a seaport. The largest seaports are compared for the availability of the necessary location factors for Dutch plastic to oil companies. The results show that Dutch seaports can provide all the necessary location factors. This difference between the location factors of Dutch and worldwide plastic to oil companies can be explained by the importance from seaports for the Dutch economy. At the same time the seaports are investing in new circular technologies and therefore a great willingness to attract plastic to oil companies to their port can be explained. Besides the location factors, other factors influence the Dutch plastic to oil companies. An uneven level playing field between waste-to-energy and plastic to oil makes it more difficult to close the business case for Dutch plastic to oil companies. Dutch government policy can create an extra step on the Ladder of Lansink and so plastic to oil is seen as feedstock recycling. Although many Dutch governmental policies are based on recycling, circular economy, green growth and use waste as a resource, plastic to oil is not mentioned in those policies. Pyrolysis is only mentioned by MIA and Vamil that are fiscal arrangements. To achieve the recycling targets sets by the EU and the Dutch government other ways of the waste collection methods need to be investigated, because they could contribute in the willingness of separate waste in households.