GreenTech Startup Receives €5M European Sustainability Grant

UBQ Materials, an Israeli greentech startup that transforms household waste into multifunctional bio-based replacements for plastic, says it has been awarded a €5 million grant from the European Commission’s Just Transition Fund (JTF).

The JTF grant is intended to alleviate socioeconomic costs triggered by the transition to climate neutrality, supporting economic diversification, creating new business opportunities and helping people to adapt to a changing labor market.

UBQ says it will use the grant to improve the efficiency and sustainability of its industrial scale facility in the Netherlands and support further product development to address additional market needs. 

The factory in Bergen op Zoom is capable of annually converting 104,600 tons of municipal solid waste into 80,000 tons of UBQ’s thermoplastic composite.

“UBQ’s innovative technology converts mixed municipal household waste that would have otherwise ended up in landfills or incinerators into a new bio-based thermoplastic composite that replaces conventional plastics in durable and semi-durable applications,” said UBQ Materials Finance Manager Gerwin Drent, who led the JTF grant application. 

“This funding will enable us to accelerate the adoption of solutions that maintain or lower the facility’s energy usage while increasing output, a significant step forward for the company,” he said.