Starting a green chemical startup isn’t easy, but it is possible, says this UvA professor
The chemical industry in the Netherlands would benefit from more green startups in the field, says UvA professor Gadi Rothenberg. He wrote a textbook on the subject, featuring personal stories to inspire students to begin their own startups. “What’s more, starting your own business is a lot of fun.”
Gadi Rothenberg, UvA professor of heterogeneous catalysis and sustainable chemistry at the UvA, could write a whole book about his own experiences in founding chemistry startups. Together with the recently deceased chemist en rock-’n-roll musician Albert Alberts, he discovered the bioplastic Glycix by chance in 2011 – a biodegradable plastic that, unlike most plastics, breaks down within a few years. The material proved most suitable for building materials, but the chairs in his office are also made from it, as are the plant pots still sold at Ikea.
Yet Rothenberg’s new textbook, Innovation Management in Sustainable Chemistry, also features many other personal stories. For instance, Tom van Aken discusses the founding of the bioplastic factory Avantium, UvA alumna and patent attorney Lilian Hesselink shares her insights on intellectual property, and there is a crash course on raising seed capital by Peter van Gelderen, a partner at investment fund Icos Capital.
Why did you want to write this book?
“I wanted to write a book that reads like a novel and answers students’ questions. A book that encourages students to start their own chemical startup. In the U.S., half of all students want to start a startup; in the Netherlands, only two out of every hundred students do. I want to change that. Plus, starting your own business is incredibly fun and good for your personal development.”
How do you recognize a good idea for a sustainable startup in chemistry?
“Look especially for places where there are problems; that’s often where opportunities lie. Waste is often a good starting point. You can buy it and resell it, allowing you to make a profit twice.”
“Green ideas aren’t always as sustainable as they seem. Newspapers often call me when there’s a new ‘sustainable’ invention to ask if it’s legitimate. You can often calculate on the back of an envelope whether such an idea is feasible, and very often it isn’t.”
“Take the example of a sustainable golf ball, which I also describe in the book. To make a golf ball out of sustainable materials that performs just as well as the golf balls already on the market, you have to make a huge financial investment in research and development. Meanwhile, the added value of a sustainable golf ball is close to zero. People do like sustainability, but they like a good product even more. So a sustainable golf ball isn’t a viable business plan. The point is that you need to be able to create value with your business idea and turn it into profit.”
In the book, you call a perfect circular economy a utopian idea. You also describe a more efficient production process for ibuprofen as sustainable, even though the painkiller is still harmful to fish when it enters the environment. What do you mean by sustainability?
“Sustainability encompasses both big and small issues. Reducing CO2 emissions falls under the big issues; ibuprofen in the environment falls under the small issues. We need to focus on the big issues that can improve the lives of many people. Such as making the plastics industry more sustainable. Avantium, for example, is working on biodegradable PET bottles. Still, it will take decades before they can take over the plastic market. Producing plastics from fossil fuels is still cheaper.”
Isn’t that discouraging?
“Some processes simply take a long time. We’re used to quick fixes, to the storylines we’re fed in movies. But not everything can be solved right away. At the end of the day, you have to deal with the market. Developing deep tech takes a lot of time and money. Avantium, for example, has already raised 480 million in investments and still hasn’t turned a profit. That’s not discouraging; it is what it is.”
Green startups are struggling because they have to compete against the conservative, established chemical industry. How does the book prepare students for that?
“With the book, I want to give students a realistic picture. Setting up a sustainable startup in the chemical industry isn’t easy. But it is possible, and it’s also incredibly fun. Especially in the early stages, when you have a small team and can experience all the benefits of working for yourself.”
Where can UvA students register for the course?
“Unfortunately, that’s not possible right now. For four years, I taught a course on startups in sustainable chemistry at the VU, as part of the Science Business & Innovation program there. But due to budget cuts, that course has been discontinued. I hope we’ll be able to launch a similar course at the UvA soon.”
Gadi Rothenberg, Innovation Management in Sustainable Chemistry (Wiley, 2026), ISBN-13 978-3527354511. Prijs: € 56,99 paperback. Order here.
