Researcher Chemical Recycling of Plastics

Are you interested in the design and development of new, sustainable processes for chemical recycling of plastics? Then this research position in our SPOT team (sustainable polymer technologies, https://spot.vito.be/en) is what you look for! Development and optimization of chemical recycling processes, a shift to alternative resources, improved functionality, less waste, lower costs and increased efficiencies: these are the challenges industry and society are facing nowadays. For the industrial uptake of these innovative processes and products, VITO derisks the industrial investments by process development and demonstration of the developed processes both at lab scale and pilot scale. For supporting these development actions, we are looking for a chemical engineer to design plastics chemical recycling processes fit for upscaling, validate in lab testing and develop methodologies from waste characterization and preprocessing, to chemical reaction design and product delivery of defined specs.

Within the team we work on various topics such as mapping available end-of-life materials, the characterization, design and development of technologies for plastics chemical recycling, mainly focusing on solvent based processes. To advance the understanding and technology development, we are looking for a researcher to develop industrially relevant and scalable chemical recycling processes of plastics. You are able to identify problems, develop chemical reactions and design chemical recycling processes in close collaboration with the expert colleagues in the team.

Tasks and responsibilities:

• You design and conduct appropriate experiments for the chemical recycling of plastics and characterize the raw materials and products using adequate analytical methods.
• You are responsible for the design of and translation of chemical recycling processes for plastics/polymers into hardware equipment at lab-scale (including feeding systems, chemical reactors, separation processes like adsorption and L/L extraction). You consider early in the design phase, the industrial relevance and scalability of these processes to pilot scale.
• You design small lab-scale test installations, and interact with your engineering colleagues for the selection of suppliers of the components, and with support get it up and running in the lab and write operational procedures.
• You are hands-on and like to work in the lab. You validate the design by running lab experiments.
• You specify process flow sheets. You model processes and units operations & develop process flow diagrams to define heat and material balance.
• You maintain effective communication with project team (internal colleagues, subcontractors, partners) and stakeholders/customers.
• You perform routine aspects of chemistry and engineering requiring knowledge and application of basic engineering and R&D principles.

• You have a PhD degree in Chemistry or Chemical/Process Engineering with an emphasis on catalysis, polymer science and/or process design
• You have an industrial relevant expertise in chemical recycling of plastics. A benefit is already some relevant experience e.g. in R&D, Process Department or technical services department of a chemical plant.
• You have experience in chemical process design and chemical reaction engineering including working with organic solvents and catalysis.
• You are able to work with models or simulation tools like ASPEN but above all you are a fast learner to master this aspect.
• Good verbal and written communication skills, where English is a must and Dutch is a pro.
• You are a hands-on team player and you know how to share your enthusiasm with your colleagues.
• You have an analytical attitude and are critical of your results;

Offer

• A competitive salary with a range of benefits, including allowances, insurance and a modular package of vacation days;
• Innovation is our core asset, therefore it goes without saying that we give our employees the opportunity to undertake additional training and keep up to date in their field of expertise;
• The chance to be part of an organization with an international reputation, known for its advanced technological research and scientific consultancy;
• The possibility to actively contribute towards sustainable developments at local, national and global level.