DESOTEC wins Nord France Invest’s International Investment Award in the Rev3 category for the world’s largest reactivation facility in Béthune-Bruay
Roeselare, Belgium, 6 May 2026 – DESOTEC, Europe’s leading provider of mobile filtration solutions, has won Nord France Invest’s International Investment Award in the Rev3 category. The award recognizes DESOTEC’s major industrial project in Béthune-Bruay, Hauts-de-France, where the company plans to develop an activated carbon reactivation facility set to become the largest of its kind in the world.
The award was presented on 5 May 2026 in Lille during Nord France Invest’s annual General Assembly, bringing together the region’s leading economic, institutional and industrial stakeholders. DESOTEC was recognized in the Rev3 category, which celebrates exemplary projects that actively support the transition to a more sustainable and circular economy in Hauts-de-France.
“This recognition goes far beyond an award,” said Mark Thys, CEO of DESOTEC. “It confirms that ambitious industrial projects can deliver both strong economic performance and positive environmental impact. This combination is essential to shaping the industry of tomorrow. The Béthune-Bruay project marks a decisive step in accelerating our growth across Europe, while meeting rising demand for sustainable and circular purification solutions.”
The world’s largest reactivation facility
DESOTEC specializes in mobile filtration solutions that remove pollutants from water, air and other industrial emissions. Its purification process is based on activated carbon, which adsorbs pollutants. Once saturated, the carbon is reactivated in furnaces so it can be reused.
Already successfully deployed at DESOTEC’s reactivation sites in Belgium, this circular model significantly reduces CO₂ emissions, by the equivalent of more than 300,000 cars per year. The future Béthune-Bruay site, which will cover 60,000 m² and offer approximately 33% additional capacity, will further strengthen this impact. It will also feature a closed-loop system enabling water to be reused at every stage of the process, significantly reducing water consumption and eliminating discharge.
The Béthune-Bruay site will be developed in several phases, with the aim of commissioning four furnaces in total. The first phase will involve the construction of the first furnace. The site will also include a high-tech laboratory. The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for early 2027.
“At Béthune-Bruay, we will combine cutting-edge technologies with a new generation of furnaces capable of continuous operation, while meeting particularly high environmental standards,” said Johan Craeye, CTO of DESOTEC and President of D.E.S.O.T.E.C. France. “This will allow us to achieve a high level of industrial performance while minimizing our environmental footprint.”
Addressing the challenges of an industry in transition
The project comes at a time of rapid transformation for the industrial sector. Faced with increasingly stringent environmental regulations and the growing complexity of pollutants, including PFAS, companies are looking for more effective and more sustainable purification solutions.
In this context, DESOTEC is developing solutions tailored to these emerging challenges. By reactivating activated carbon, the company also reduces the need for virgin raw materials and limits reliance on imports from outside Europe. The Béthune-Bruay site therefore represents a key milestone in DESOTEC’s industrial development and in the expansion of circular solutions across Europe.