Demcon suster acquires Coraltech

Demcon continues to expand the activities in the field of the circular economy and sustainable process technology. Over two years ago, Suster, a spin-off from the University of Twente in the field of chemistry and process technology, became part of the Demcon group. As part of Demcon, was Suster able to grow further with research and process development for greening the process industry.

Now, Demcon suster has taken a stake in Coraltech from Enschede. This company was founded by Erik Verbeek, has 6 employees and builds small process installations, pilot plants and research setups. The company name was inspired by coral as it is a natural “trap” of CO2. The name emphasizes that Coraltech mainly focusses at projects that contribute to sustainability and solutions to the climate problem.

The two companies have been working together on projects for sustainable process development for years. Coraltech often built pilot plants for processes that Demcon suster develops. The partners have even done joint acquisitions for these projects. An example of their cooperation is participation in the European project MMAtwo, aimed at processing PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate, or plexiglass) waste. Demcon suster and Coraltech designed process equipment for processing and purifying the depolymerized material, which Coraltech built.

“This is a minority stake”, explains Erik Verbeek and Bert Heesink, director of Demcon suster. “This contributes to a stable, broader basis for the realization of projects, while enabling Coraltech to further invest in employees and facilities. We can therefore take on larger projects together and make more impact with sustainability in the process industry.”