As Senior program manager Sustainable Chemical Business at MVO Nederland, Elsbeth Roelofs develops projects with Dutch chemical companies to make their value chains more sustainable. She is a promotor for the new economy. ‘When chemistry becomes more sustainable, all sectors become more sustainable.’

Elsbeth Roelofs studied chemical engineering to make industry cleaner. After positions as a consultant and strategic researcher, she wanted to operate closer to the industry. At MVO Nederland she focuses on accelerating the sustainable development of the chemical sector through national and international projects with SMEs and larger companies. She also lobbies for the new economy with the government. The pressure could be higher, as far as she is concerned, because a lot has to change in a short time. ‘Reactive companies only get moving when they have to, you need the government for that.’

You’ve been program manager of chemistry at MVO Netherlands since 2015. What exactly does MVO Netherlands do?

‘We bring companies together and let them strengthen each other, so that we work on innovation in the new economy together. MVO Netherlands is the largest sustainable business network in Europe. We have almost 2,000 companies from different sectors, including chemicals, but also, for example, agrifood, construction, healthcare and textiles. Our goal: by 2025, twenty percent of the economy has transitioned to the new economy , ergo climate neutral, circular, inclusive and with fair trade chains. To measure that, we developed the New Economy Index (NEx), which annually measures how sustainable the business community is.’

‘In addition, we set up innovation projects with our partners. Not as we know it in academia or at knowledge institutes like TNO. It is more applied, with a high TRL [Technology Readiness Level, ed]. What is already possible? We are going to apply that and stretch the boundaries further. Then we’ll see if we can scale up such a project.’