Aduro appoints senior industrial leader to lead delivery of Chemelot's first industrial facility

Introduction

Clean technology company Aduro Clean Technologies (NASDAQ: ADUR; TSX: ACT) recently announced the appointment of Jan Lemmens as Project Director for its first-of-a-kind (FOAK) industrial facility at the Chemelot Industrial Park in the Netherlands. This personnel change marks a transition from preliminary development to the engineering, permitting, and construction preparation phases, serving as a significant demonstration for the industrialization of chemical recycling of waste plastics in Europe.

Project Background

Aduro's FOAK facility was publicly announced in January 2026, with plans to deploy its patented Hydrochemolytic™ technology for the chemical recycling of waste plastics. The facility has an initial designed annual processing capacity of approximately 10,000 tonnes, with provisions for modular expansion to gradually achieve larger-scale industrial operations. The project is located at the Chemelot Industrial Park in Sittard-Geleen, Limburg Province, Netherlands. This park is one of the most prestigious chemical industry clusters in Europe, offering comprehensive utilities, logistics networks, and raw material supply systems, providing an ideal environment for scaling advanced recycling technologies.

Key Progress

Jan Lemmens brings over 30 years of leadership experience in the European specialty materials, plastics, and chemical processing industries. He has served as Operations Director and Plant Manager at Sekisui S-Lec BV, General Manager at RPC BEBO NL, Operations Director at Transilwrap Company (responsible for building their first European manufacturing facility), and Engineering Manager at Rexam Group. In recent years, he has focused on industrial project leadership and operational consulting, deeply involved in contractor coordination and industrial stakeholder engagement within the Chemelot ecosystem, making him highly familiar with the complex operational environment in the park.

At the FOAK project, Lemmens will be responsible for the planning and execution of site development, including civil engineering, permit coordination, contractor management, and construction readiness. He will also coordinate collaboration between the Dutch project team and Aduro's engineering, operations, and logistics teams in Canada, ensuring site execution aligns with process requirements, material flow, and operational planning. Additionally, he will lead the establishment of the local operations organization, including personnel recruitment, safety training, and pre-commissioning preparations, facilitating a smooth transition from construction to industrial production.

Previously, Aduro signed a licensing consulting agreement with Ebert HERA B.V and obtained letters of intent covering the initial product output, preliminarily validating the commercial viability of the downstream market.

Industry ImpactThe advancement of FOAK facilities holds multiple implications for the European chemical industry. On one hand, it is expected to fill the gap in Europe's chemical recycling infrastructure, providing a closed-loop solution for mixed waste plastics that are difficult to mechanically recycle. On the other hand, the existing petrochemical units within the Chemelot site can serve as direct users of circular hydrocarbon products, forming a short-distance value chain from waste plastics to new materials and reducing transportation carbon emissions. Moreover, the modular design concept adopted by the project offers a replicable technical pathway for subsequent commercial scaling, potentially encouraging other chemical clusters in Europe to follow with similar investments. Aduro's technology uses water as a key medium and operates under relatively low temperature and pressure. Compared to traditional pyrolysis processes, it has clear advantages in energy efficiency and cost. If successfully validated in the future, it will significantly enhance the economic viability of chemical recycling.