The cleantech company matterr was part of this year’s K — The World’s No. 1 Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber, introducing its patented depolymerization technology to a global audience. At the booth and during its sessions the company shared insights into its first small-scale industrial plant, to be built at Chemiepark Knapsack, which will serve as a blueprint for future large-scale facilities.

On day two, matterr hosted a press briefing together with Ralf Müller and Christoph Kappenhagen from the management board of YNCORIS, and Monika Beck, Head of Business Unit D-A-CH / Spain / Portugal at NRW.Global Business. The message was clear: industrial innovation can start in Germany — and scale across borders.

“With the EU funding and BESTSELLER’s investment, we have reached two important milestones toward building a small-scale industrial depolymerization plant at Chemiepark Knapsack. Our decision to scale in Germany is intentional: the technology was developed here, and we will keep the value creation here. This ensures strategic independence in a key technology driving the global circular transformation in the textile and packaging industries", states Melanie Hackler, CEO of matterr

Project and regional impact

The planned facility, with an annual capacity of around 10,000 tons, will convert hard-to-recycle polyester streams — from textiles to multilayer packaging — into virgin-quality, drop-in feedstock. The technology is specifically designed to handle complex material streams that mechanical recycling cannot handle.

By recovering polyester captured in mixed waste streams currently sent to landfill or incineration, matterr advances decarbonization across the polyester value chain, and contributes to EU circular economy and climate targets – while reinforcing Germany’s role as a hub for industrial innovation.

Scaling up, matterr aims to prove that fossil-free circular solutions work at industrial scale and to set a new benchmark for regenerative supply chains across industries.

“Chemiepark Knapsack offers ideal conditions: infrastructure, energy networks, skilled workforce, and proximity to strong partners across the value chain. For us as a team, it is also about establishing standards and processes that enable fast replication and international roll-out, says Benjamin Rump, COO of matterr.