Vynova Belgium has filed for bankruptcy, putting 600 jobs at the company’s Tessenderlo-Ham site at risk.
The announcement, confirmed on Tuesday follows a failed attempt by management to secure a full acquisition of the chemical plant.
The collapse hurts the local community, where the factory has long provided social and economic stability. “This is a piece of Tessenderlo-Ham that threatens to disappear,” said Marc Heselmans (CD&V).
Debt burden leads to Vynova Belgium bankruptcy
Vynova Belgium had been operating under a judicial reorganization procedure since December 2025 to protect itself from creditors, a period of protection that was set to expire on December 26, 2026. Despite the Belgian government providing a guarantee to increase the company’s credit line in June 2026, the firm was unable to overcome a debt burden totaling 275 million euros.
The site, which produces core materials for PVC plastics, has changed hands several times since 2010. It was previously part of the Tessenderlo Group and later operated by Ineos before being acquired by the German investment firm ICIG in 2015.
British chemical company Ineos acquired the site in 2011, but had to divest it again in 2015 to secure European approval to form a joint PVC business with Belgian chemical group Solvay. Chemical company Vynova Belgium, which has its head office in Tessenderlo-Ham, Limburg, filed for bankruptcy on November 10, 2026, at 12:42.
Employees blockade factory gates over wage uncertainty
Following the bankruptcy announcement, employees staged a blockade at the factory gates on Tuesday afternoon. Workers utilized a vehicle to prevent traffic from leaving the site, signaling their frustration over uncertainty regarding their wages and year-end bonuses. Employees used a car to block the exit at the Vynova access gate for a time on Tuesday afternoon.
After a tour of the factory site, the trade unions found sufficient willingness to take action among the employees currently at work, according to Peter Persoons (ACV), an employee at Vynova himself and just seven months away from retirement.
While the factory has already begun a phased shutdown, safety remains a point of focus. Mayor Heselmans said that chemicals remain in storage tanks that require cooling and continuous monitoring, though he emphasized that communication between the company and local authorities has remained consistent. “I’m also sure that many people who work on the site and live in Tessenderlo will not just ignore that responsibility,” Heselmans told HBVL.
Regional economic impact
The situation at chemical company Vynova in Tessenderlo-Ham is expected to have a huge impact on the local community. Local officials are currently calculating the financial impact on municipal revenue, while also coordinating with the VDAB to organize a potential job fair for affected staff.
Mayor Heselmans expressed hope that the costs of dismantling and cleaning up the industrial area—which may contain contaminated soil—will not fall on the municipality. “I hope, above all, that the remediation costs are not shifted onto the municipality. Because then we will have a second bankruptcy here, I fear,” Heselmans told HBVL.
Politics must in any case consider how to safeguard the future of industry and the chemical sector in Belgium and Europe, while the question remains what should happen to that giant site in Tessenderlo-Ham if no restart is made.
As energy-intensive chemical companies close their doors without new, greener projects getting off the ground, industry falls between two stools, a situation occurring with Vynova’s bankruptcy and the cancelled CO₂ pipeline to Norway.
Vynova Advanced Organics faces reorganization amid main site bankruptcy
While the main production facility has entered bankruptcy, Vynova Advanced Organics, which employs 90 people, is currently in a separate reorganization process. However, its operations are heavily dependent on the main site for chlorine supply.
Workers were informed that their salaries would be paid through November 11. Union representatives are meeting with management to negotiate year-end bonuses.
The commercial court is expected to appoint curators on Thursday to oversee the bankruptcy proceedings. “It is up to the curators to decide on that, but then everything will have to be sold down to the last thumbtack to at least be able to compensate the employees,” said Yannick Urbain of the ABVV union.
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