Maurits van Tol is Chief Executive of Catalyst Technologies and a member of the Executive Committee at Johnson Matthey Plc, a global leader in sustainable technologies. He joined the company in 2019 as Chief Technology Officer, leading global innovation and research initiatives.
Prior to Johnson Matthey, Maurits was Senior Vice President of Innovation and Technology at Borealis AG, where he led the Circular Economy business and served on the company’s managing board. He also spent 19 years at Royal DSM NV in R&D, innovation, and business management roles.
Maurits holds a PhD and MSc in Catalysis from Leiden University, with research experience at the University of East Anglia and UC Berkeley. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Faraday Institution, advises the UNIDO–Tsinghua International Hydrogen Energy Centre, and is a member of the Royal Society’s Science, Industry and Translation Committee.
A passionate advocate for sustainability and cleantech, Maurits holds 18 patents, has over 30 publications, and has received awards from Leiden University and the Royal Dutch Chemical Society. Ahead of ADIPEC 2025, he discusses his career and Johnson Matthey’s role in driving innovation in the energy transition with Energy Worth Online. Excepts:
Your career spans leading roles in innovation at Johnson Matthey, Borealis, and DSM. How has your approach to fostering innovation evolved across these different corporate cultures and industries?
As my teams grew from around 60 people to more than 2,000, my role shifted from being directly involved in the science to making clear portfolio choices. I became more focused on identifying which programmes were the real “big bets” that would shape the company’s future. At the same time, I learned how important it is to build strong teams and lead through people rather than through personal technical input.
The higher you move within an organisation, the more influence you have over culture. Innovation depends on a culture where people feel trusted, supported and encouraged to experiment. A key lesson in my career came during my time working on bio-based chemicals at DSM around 2010. Oil prices were extremely high, and bio-based alternatives appeared competitive. We invested heavily, but when oil prices collapsed to around 40 dollars a barrel, the business case evaporated. It showed me that innovation does not exist in isolation. Many external factors must align to bring technology to commercial scale. You need scenario thinking, sensitivity testing and a constant awareness of geopolitical and market dynamics. Never assume the world will stay the same, or that changes will be small and manageable.
As Chief Executive of Catalyst Technologies at Johnson Matthey, how do you prioritise R&D efforts to balance commercial viability with long-term sustainability goals?
For us, commercial success and sustainability are connected. Our customers are building plants that will operate for 30 years or more, so the technologies we provide must make sense economically today and remain aligned with long-term sustainability and regulatory expectations. We cannot afford to develop solutions that become obsolete after a few years.
Every major programme starts with a thorough Front-End Loading process. This means evaluating economic viability, sustainability, security of supply and geopolitical risks before we commit resources. We challenge our teams to deliver solutions that are both competitive and future-proof. Innovation budgets must also be protected. You cannot switch R&D off when finances tighten and expect it to restart smoothly. Long-term innovation is an investment, not an expense.
With ADIPEC 2025 highlighting pathways to net zero and circularity, what breakthrough technologies do you believe are most critical to accelerating the circular economy, based on your experience at both Borealis and Johnson Matthey?
To me, circularity means avoiding waste and keeping molecules in use for as long as possible. We need polymers that can be recycled repeatedly and technologies that allow materials to have a second or third life. At Johnson Matthey, we have catalysts and processes that already use recycled feedstocks or can themselves be recycled.
This goes beyond precious metals and includes many other materials.
I believe carbon dioxide is one of the most important molecules in the circular economy. Instead of emitting it, we can capture it, react it with hydrogen and produce synthetic natural gas, methanol, sustainable aviation fuel and other essential products.
At Catalyst Technologies, we have one of the broadest portfolios of these technologies, and many are feedstock agnostic, meaning they can run on fossil or renewable inputs. Circularity and sustainable development is especially relevant for regions like Africa where there are abundant biomass, land and demand for new infrastructure. Africa has the opportunity to leapfrog more developed areas of the world by building low-carbon energy and supply chains.
Given your deep background in catalysis and sustainable technologies, what recent scientific advancements are you most excited about, particularly in relation to hydrogen or carbon capture?
What excites me most is not a single breakthrough, but the way technologies are now being integrated across companies and value chains. In many areas, the core technologies for hydrogen, carbon capture and sustainable fuels already exist and are ready to be deployed at scale.
The real innovation is now occurring at the interfaces between organisations. Instead of one company developing a process and handing it to another, alliances such as the SAF Alliance, bring partners together from the start.
Engineering, plant construction, catalysis, hydrogen supply and raw material/CO₂ utilisation, and refining of the SAF components are developed as one integrated package. This reduces cost, improves efficiency and speeds up deployment.
Public–private collaboration is a major theme at ADIPEC 2025. Drawing from your advisory roles with institutions like the UN and IHEC/Tsinghua University, what are the most effective models for scaling clean technologies globally?
To scale clean technologies effectively, alignment is needed across the entire value chain. This means developers, suppliers, customers and policymakers must move together rather than individually.
Large groups of end-users or buyers need to collaborate and commit to long-term off-take agreements. These agreements make projects bankable by giving developers or producers the confidence and financial backing to invest at industrial scale.
Governments also play a pivotal role. They can mandate the use of more sustainable products or introduce temporary subsidies in the first decade or two to help emerging industries compete with established fossil-derived alternatives. These measures bridge the cost gap until economies of scale are achieved.
Globally harmonised product standards are equally essential. Common standards provide clarity, enable consistent production and simplify shipping and use across borders. They also help eliminate physical incompatibilities, such as varying pipe sizes or connector types, which can create unnecessary barriers, complexity and cost. Standardisation and harmonisation not only reduce costs but also accelerate technology adoption in sectors like shipping, aviation and chemicals.
You have authored 18 patents and over 30 publications. What do you believe distinguishes impactful scientific work from merely incremental innovation in today’s R&D landscape?
In academia, impact is rooted in depth of understanding. PhD students, for instance, are encouraged to explore scientific questions deeply, often without knowing exactly how their findings will be used.
The aim at that stage is not immediate application, but learning how to conduct rigorous research, think creatively and critically, and develop strong analytical skills. These are transferable abilities that remain valuable throughout their lives, whether they stay in science or move into other fields.
In industry, impact is measured differently. Research must respond to customer needs, market demands and societal challenges and, ultimately, lead to commercial solutions that create value. It must also generate revenue to fund further innovation, including future R&D. I often think of industrial research in terms of different “buckets”. One bucket focuses on making existing products cheaper or more efficient to produce. Another improves sustainability or extends product lifespan for customers. A third develops next-generation versions of current technologies. And a final bucket covers large, long-term programmes that might transform the company over a decade or more. All of these are necessary.
The size, type and number of buckets varies between companies and sectors, but impactful scientific work can take place in any of them if it solves real problems, shifts thinking or enables new markets.
In your leadership journey from DSM to Johnson Matthey, how have you built and nurtured high-performing scientific teams, especially during times of transformation or rapid growth?
For me, the most important factor is stability of purpose and funding. R&D is not an expense to be reduced when profits fall; it is an investment that must be protected. It is the only way a company becomes stronger in its field or moves confidently into adjacent ones. Innovation cannot be switched on and off depending on quarterly results.
When R&D is treated as a cost rather than a long-term investment, people stop thinking beyond immediate problems and focus only on quick fixes.
Long-term research in particular is essential for companies that want to thrive for decades, not just survive the next financial cycle. This “bucket” of research creates step-change innovations and attracts the best scientists and innovators. They are drawn to environments where they can do high-quality work without the constant fear that the next savings programme will cut their projects.
This is where leadership matters. The board, CEO and executive committee set the tone from the top. If they value science, protect R&D budgets and communicate a clear direction, the organisation follows.
Culture, purpose and trust matter more to scientists than salary alone. They want to work where science is understood and respected, where failure is recognised as part of learning, and where short-term problem solving and long-term ambition exist side by side. It is not only about distant breakthroughs.
Solving an urgent issue, such as saving millions by improving a process in three months, can be just as motivating as working on a decade-long technology initiative.
Talent attracts talent. When high-quality scientific work is being done, shared and supported, it becomes a magnet for other top scientists and engineers.
Looking ahead, the next generation of scientists will need much more than chemistry or engineering expertise. They will need clean, well-structured data, basic machine learning skills, molecular and process modelling, and a practical understanding of economics, finance and geopolitics.
Above all, they will need critical thinking in a world where misinformation spreads faster than facts.
You will be attending this year’s ADIPEC exhibition from 3rd to 6th November in Abu Dhabi. What are your key expectations for the event, and what insights or outcomes are you hoping to take away?
ADIPEC is one of the most important places in the world to meet customers, prospects, business partners and innovators across the energy and chemicals sectors. It brings together the full value chain in one place, which is why it is one of the most impactful conferences in our industry. For me, a successful ADIPEC is not only about visibility; it is about meaningful conversations and understanding the themes shaping our sector, especially at a time when geopolitics is influencing energy and chemical markets more than ever.
It is a place to ask the big questions: how do we stay the course and continue providing the products society needs to thrive, while reducing environmental impact year after year? How do we balance energy security, affordability and sustainability in a world that still relies on both fossil and non-fossil sources of energy?
The goal is not to replace one with the other overnight, but to cut emissions while allowing economies and living standards to grow.
I hope the discussions go beyond short-term politics. Whether people are driven by climate concerns, competitiveness or economic opportunity, the global shift towards lower-carbon solutions will continue. Countries like China are already producing clean technologies and low-carbon products at massive scale and low cost. Ignoring this transition would mean missing one of the biggest industrial opportunities of our time.
On a personal level, success at ADIPEC means leaving with new ideas, deeper relationships and concrete opportunities to collaborate. It is the marketplace where future partnerships are formed, and where you are reminded that no company can navigate this transition alone.
