Aduro Chief Revenue Officer Eric Appelman has joined the board of Chemical Recycling Europe, the Brussels-headquartered trade association representing advanced polymer recyclers across the European Union, according to a release issued via PA Media.

The board appointment places Appelman — who runs commercial operations at the Canadian-listed clean-technology firm — alongside senior executives from petrochemical producers, process technology developers and waste-management operators that shape the association's positions on the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, mass-balance accounting, and end-of-waste status for chemically processed feedstocks.

Chemical Recycling Europe operates as a sector group under Plastics Europe, the wider polyolefins and polymers federation. Its membership roster includes major petrochemical companies and emerging process developers pursuing pyrolysis, depolymerisation and hydrothermal conversion of mixed plastic scrap into cracker-ready feedstocks.

Why now?

The seat lands at a politically sensitive moment for advanced recycling in Europe. The European Commission has finalised the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, which sets mandatory recycled-content thresholds for plastic packaging starting in 2030. But the implementing delegated acts — including the methodology for counting chemically recycled feedstock toward those thresholds — remain in drafting.

The commission's 2023 communication on mass balance endorsed the accounting approach for recycled-content claims tied to chemically processed output, subject to technical criteria still being finalised. Member-state interpretations of those criteria are not yet harmonised, leaving advanced recyclers exposed to divergent national enforcement.

What does the board membership deliver Aduro?

Direct representation in Chemical Recycling Europe's technical committees, including the working groups responsible for:

• Mass-balance methodology for chemically processed feedstocks
• Recycled-content verification and certification under EU rules
• End-of-waste criteria for pyrolysis oils and equivalent outputs
• Industry submissions to the European Commission on delegated acts

Where does Aduro sit in the chemical-recycling market?

Aduro Clean Technologies trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange. The company has developed chemical conversion technology aimed at processing polyolefin-rich mixed plastic scrap into hydrocarbon intermediates for petrochemical crackers. The company has consistently framed its process as a complement to mechanical recycling for contaminated and multilayer streams that conventional recyclers reject.

The next milestone

The marker for the trade group — and for Aduro's new policy access — is Chemical Recycling Europe's formal position on the European Commission's forthcoming delegated act on mass-balance methodology for chemically recycled plastic. That act will decide how recyclers can claim recycled content from chemically processed feedstock and whether pyrolysis and hydrothermal outputs are eligible under the 2030 thresholds. Industry comment is expected in the coming months.