New factory MOPET in Neufchâteau will recycle PET plastic into raw material for new food packaging

With the opening of the new MOPET plant in Neufchâteau, Belgium is expanding its industrial capacity to recycle PET plastic locally into raw materials that can be used again for food packaging. Developed by Morssinkhof Rymoplast with the support of IDELUX and in partnership with Fost Plus, the facility will produce food-grade recycled PET from transparent PET bottles. In addition, MOPET marks a Belgian first by recycling PET trays and opaque PET bottles. These packaging types are considerably more complex to recycle and it is currently challenging to find viable end markets. Backed by an investment of €68.5 million, MOPET will create around 90 new jobs in the province of Luxembourg while strengthening Belgium's local recycling chain for household plastic packaging.

Every day, Belgian consumers dispose of bottles, trays and plastic films in the blue PMD recycling bag. For many people, sorting has become second nature. It is also the essential first step in the recycling chain: packaging is collected, further sorted in specialised facilities and ultimately recycled into new raw materials. Thanks to MOPET, even more PET packaging – including transparent bottles, opaque PET bottles and PET trays – will now be processed locally in Neufchâteau. As a result, the sorting efforts made by Belgian households will increasingly lead to tangible recycling outcomes within Belgium itself.

Morssinkhof Rymoplast has many years of expertise in recycling transparent PET bottles. PET trays and opaque PET bottles, such as milk bottles, are significantly more challenging to recycle. They require adapted sorting and recycling processes, as well as suitable end markets for the recycled material.

'With MOPET, we are taking another important step forward in PET recycling in Belgium. This new facility enables us to transform not only transparent PET bottles, but also PET trays and opaque PET bottles into food-grade r-PET: high-quality raw materials that can be used again to produce new packaging. With an annual recycling capacity of 40,000 tonnes of PET – including 17,500 tonnes of transparent and opaque PET bottles and 10,500 tonnes of PET trays collected through Belgium's blue PMD bag – MOPET will make a significant contribution to expanding Belgium's local plastic recycling capacity.' Stefan Morssinkhof, CEO of MOPET

€68.5 million investment in the Province of Luxembourg creates 90 new jobs

The first phase of the project represents an investment of €68.5 million by Morssinkhof Rymoplast. The project was developed in close collaboration with Fost Plus and IDELUX. IDELUX supported the construction of the plant through a financial grant, while Fost Plus, as a long-term partner and supplier of sorted materials, helped provide the investment certainty required to make the project viable.

'Behind this new facility lies a strong human story as well. MOPET will initially create 90 direct jobs in Neufchâteau across a wide range of functions, from production and maintenance to logistics, laboratory operations and support services. Once the plant reaches full capacity, a further 35 jobs are expected to be added. For our employees, it is a real source of pride to contribute, here in the Province of Luxembourg, to an industrial project with genuine societal value - one that gives packaging a second life, while making a tangible contribution to a more sustainable circular economy.' Stefan Morssinkhof, CEO of MOPET

'At IDELUX, we are very proud to have helped make Morssinkhof Rymoplast's investment in Neufchâteau a reality. The company has invested in a state-of-the-art recycling facility covering more than nine hectares, dedicated to PET packaging collected through Belgium's blue PMD bag. Delivering this project required overcoming numerous challenges - from land acquisition and utility infrastructure to water treatment, permitting procedures and recruitment - and demanded close cooperation between all partners involved. Beyond its importance for employment, with the ambition of creating 125 jobs in the long term, this project also represents a major milestone in achieving our sustainable development objectives.' Elie Deblire, President of IDELUX Développement

'Every day, citizens make the effort to sort their waste correctly. This project demonstrates the concrete value of that effort: recycling creates both value and local employment. By bringing together collection, sorting and recycling, we transform waste into valuable raw materials while making the circular economy a genuine driver of regional development. Projects of this scale, creating so many new jobs, have not been seen in our province since 2015, and their positive impact will be felt throughout the whole region.' François Huberty, Mayor of Neufchâteau

Belgium is recycling more and more plastic packaging domestically

Packaging placed in Belgium's blue PMD recycling bag is increasingly being given a second life as new packaging or other plastic products – and more often than ever before, this happens close to home. Today, Belgium recycles almost six times more household plastic packaging domestically than it did four years ago, increasing from 13,463 tonnes in 2021 to 74,236 tonnes in 2025. MOPET is part of this broader evolution, alongside other major industrial recycling initiatives such as FILAO in Charleroi, Fromto in Beringen, ECOO Recycling in Houthalen-Helchteren and Plastics2Chemicals in Antwerp.

'The European plastics recycling sector is currently facing extremely challenging market conditions. Competition from virgin plastics, high energy prices and a market that is barely growing are putting considerable pressure on the industry. Despite these challenges, Belgium has continued investing in local recycling capacity. Fost Plus supports these investments through long-term contracts and guaranteed volumes of high-quality sorted materials. These are precisely the conditions that make industrial projects such as MOPET possible here in Belgium. Last year, nearly three quarters of the household plastic packaging placed on the Belgian market by our members was recycled. Today, more than half of that recycling already takes place in Belgian recycling facilities. With MOPET, we are taking another important step towards recycling even more packaging domestically and further strengthening Belgium's circular economy in a sustainable way.' Steven Boussemaere, Chief Innovation Officer of Fost Plus

Morssinkhof Rymoplast is planning an additional expansion phase on an adjacent site. This would incorporate an advanced recycling process based on CuRe technology, enabling PET that is unsuitable for conventional mechanical recycling to be recycled into high-quality food-grade r-PET. This second phase represents an additional investment of €45 million and creates an extra 35 jobs.

^{About Fost Plus}

^{Since 1994, Fost Plus has been accelerating the transition to sustainable packaging management. Citizens are at the heart of an approach designed to prevent raw materials from ending up as waste. For instance, Fost Plus is setting up efficient structures to sort correctly any time, anywhere, improving packaging design with around 5,000 members with a view to better recycling, and rethinking the way we all handle packaging and other materials.}

^{Fost Plus works closely with citizens, businesses, governments and experts to collect and recycle the household packaging put on the market by its members. In this way, the organisation fulfils its members’ Extended Producer Responsibility. Sixty dedicated colleagues are committed to influencing behaviour so as to minimise the environmental impact of our ways of producing and consuming. By building sustainable material chains, Fost Plus contributes to a better society and a cleaner environment for all.}

^{About Morssinkhof Rymoplast}

^{The Morssinkhof Rymoplast Group family business was founded in 1961 and has since then been playing a leading role in the European plastic recycling industry. The Group has 13 processing plants in Europe, each with its own specialism. It produces 500,000 tonnes secondary raw materials annually out of post-consumer and post-industrial plastics. The core business focuses on the recycling process of five different plastic types: HDPE, LDPE, PET, PS and PP. Morssinkhof has more than 25 years of experience in producing Food Approved PET pellets for the production of new bottles for the food and beverage industry. The Group consists of two business units: Rymoplast and Morssinkhof Plastics.}