Jacqueline Vaessen has been appointed by State Secretary Mona Keijzer (EZK) as figure head of Top Sector ChemistryNL. As of September 1, 2021, she will succeed Emmo Meijer, who has held this role for more than 4 years. Vaessen is also general manager of Nexstep, a national platform for reuse and decommissioning of oil and gas infrastructure. She will combine both functions.
Photocredits: Hannah van der Blij
Passion for the energy transition
Jacqueline Vaessen studied chemical technology and started her working life as a technologist at Shell in Moerdijk. In 1996 she switched to Syntens, the then innovation instrument of Economic Affairs. She started her own company in 2004 and was active for many years in the promotion of technology and improvements in vocational education. She was also associated with an engineering firm for a number of years that focused on making industry more sustainable. In 2015 she became a member of the Provincial Council in Utrecht as spokesperson for energy and economy. In 2018 she started in her current position as general manager of Nexstep. Within Nexstep, she and TNO took the initiative for the first offshore hydrogen production on an existing platform. She and her team also prepared a first tender in which six operators will jointly dismantle wells, a worldwide first.
Her background, knowledge and experience within the oil and gas industry make her commitment and experience very valuable for a healthy future for this top sector.
Jacqueline Vaessen is really looking forward to working as a figurehead of Top Sector ChemistryNL: “It feels a bit like coming home to the sector where I once started my working life. There are many challenges and opportunities for the sector, such as making the sector more sustainable, the energy transition and circularity. I look forward to tackling this together with the Top Team.”
Collaboration as a basis
Departing figurehead Emmo Meijer has made an extraordinary effort for a Top Sector that gives priority to making chemical industry more sustainable. This resulted in, among other things, national platforms for sustainable materials, recycling of plastics, electrochemical conversion and the circular economy. Successful growth fund proposals in a cross-sector partnership build on this. At EU level, he will continue to work on some of these topics.
Innovative Chemistry
In the categories basic chemistry, food ingredients, coatings and high performance materials, the Netherlands is among the global top. Top Sector ChemistryNL is one of the ten Top Sectors with which the Dutch business community, knowledge institutions, government and social initiatives contribute to solving global social challenges and capitalizing on the associated economic opportunities. The chemical industry focuses on various missions within the mission themes established by the cabinet: Energy Transition & Sustainability, Agriculture, Water & Food and Health & Care.
The challenges extend so far that Top Sector ChemistryNL is establishing collaboration in the Innovation Helix between the business community, government, knowledge institutions and increasingly end users. This collaboration in the Innovation Helix makes an important contribution to stimulating public-private collaboration in the development of sustainable products, renewable raw materials, clean production methods and smart materials.
The world is facing the problem that raw materials are running out or not readily available. The chemical sector therefore also wants to take a leading role in the coming decades in the transition to a circular economy that is as circular as possible with optimum resource efficiency and minimal ecological footprint.
For questions, please contact Jerry van den Broeke, Senior Communication Advisor ChemistryNL.
