Energy, Oil & Gas Magazine Issue 219 March 2024 | Page 34

N + P Group ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
areas , as it ’ s never good to have two captains steering the same ship . Specifically , I ’ ve grown more to the technical side , working on technologies to transform waste into a useable material , whereas Stijn focuses on the commercial aspects and strategic business development ,” Lars mentioned .
Valuable applications
Today , Lars and Stijn serve as Chief Technology & Innovation Officer and Chief Development Officer respectively and have extended N + P ’ s operations by adopting new technologies and acquiring material recovery plants to ensure waste is sorted before it ’ s used as feedstock for other processes . We sit down with Lars and Stijn to get a greater insight into how they ’ re continuing to steer what was once their father ’ s company towards further success .
“ It ’ s been quite a nice journey since we joined the family business straight after graduation ,” opens Stijn when we ask about the company ’ s history . “ At that time , the main activity was shipping waste from multiple countries in Europe that have an overflow and no local treatment plants , other than landfill . To put it simply , we found better uses for the waste that prevented it from going to landfill . We began to ship waste from the UK to the Netherlands , for instance , where it was used to generate heat and energy in incinerators .
“ That ’ s really where our production journey began ; we recognized that there was a significant gap between the quality requirements that industrial plants were demanding and the quality of the material that the waste industry was offering . There weren ’ t any companies specializing in the production of high-quality fuels from waste materials that had real-world , valuable applications for industries .
“ To bridge that gap , we acquired a factory in 2012 , which was already trying to produce fuels but struggling to really convert their
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