The Flemish government talks a lot about the ‘primacy of politics’, but easily hides behind the market when it comes to industrial transition. Not choosing is also a choice: without guidance, the outdated petrochemicals remain in the saddle. Clean alternatives only thrive under policies that believe in them.
De Standaard laid it bare last week: the Antwerp chemical industry is financially backed against the wall, yet remains paralysed and treading water. From the environmental movement, we watch this with growing astonishment. You can hardly imagine a clearer alarm signal for ambitious transition policy. Yet the shift to a circular industry remains dead letter.
We do know how it can be done. The Belgian offshore wind industry, which is currently leading at a global level, did not arise by chance. It was built with three levers: clear regulation (zones, connections, long-term goals), a predictable permitting policy, and substantial subsidies that reduced investment risks. As a result, companies like Jan De Nul and DEME have grown into global players in offshore wind in just twenty years.
We now need exactly the same levers in the Antwerp chemical industry – but focused on circular and fossil-free processes. Flanders is currently spending many times more on fossil subsidies than on sustainable innovation. In petrochemicals, an outdated business model is being kept alive with subsidy support. For these gifts, our government expects little in return, much to the delight of foreign parent companies.
Those who are working towards that future are left out in the cold. In the port region, young companies are ready with technology that can detach the chemistry of oil and gas: think of chemical recycling, or processes that convert CO2 back into raw materials. However, they find it difficult to secure funding for large-scale installations. Moreover, the innovators are counting on a future-oriented framework that gives oxygen to their business model. Companies without a vision for the future naturally see such a shift as a threat. These players prefer to invest in the efficiency of their existing fossil lines. This is rational from their shareholder logic, but it contradicts the common good that tax money serves. Thus, the government's 'hands-off' approach actually takes on a very clear direction: artificially keeping the existing petrochemicals alive while innovative players find no support and are at risk of leaving.
The paradox becomes painfully visible in the permitting policy. Take Ineos Project One. Despite the deep crisis in basic chemicals, the oversupply of fossil plastics, and the ever-increasing CO2 emissions, the Flemish government has not placed any obstacles in the way of this new ethane cracker. On the contrary: after a legal setback, the permit was granted again, and today the project even has two permits. This is a powerful signal to the market: fossil expansion is prioritised, while circular alternatives may wait.
Under the motto 'never waste a good crisis', we call on the government to finally show the same courage as with the rollout of offshore wind. Three core actions cannot be missing from this. Firstly: establish binding product standards and recycling quotas that create a market for recycled and biobased materials. Secondly, make every major investment a lever for transition. No more new fossil 'lock-ins' like Project One; permits must be linked to a concrete path towards circular and climate-neutral. Finally, redirect the hundreds of millions of euros that currently serve as discounts on the energy bills of industry towards scaling up circular technology.
Only by phasing out the old fossil basic chemistry and building a new circular alternative can we avoid having to turn off the lights in Antwerp.
And to citizens, trade unions, climate activists, and local authorities: let this not remain a debate in closed meeting rooms. The future of Antwerp's chemistry is also the future of our air, our jobs, and our climate. Hold policymakers accountable, support the innovators. Make the Port of Antwerp an example again, not of artificial respiration, but of a clean, just transition.