Project Conceptualization - Team Roles
Six key team roles for the project conceptualisation phase of a chemical plastic recycling (depolymerisation) plant — covering strategy, process engineering, sustainability, feedstock, facility planning, and financial modelling.
Role | Responsibility | Est. Count |
Project Director | Overall strategic lead, stakeholder management, and funding alignment. | 1 |
Chemical Process Engineer | Technology pathway selection, mass balance, and BFD creation. | 1-2 |
Sustainability/LCA Consultant | Mapping carbon footprint goals and circularity metrics. | 1 |
Feedstock/Logistics Specialist | Sourcing plastic waste and establishing supply chain agreements. | 1 |
Facility Architect/Planner | Preliminary site zoning and constructional layout design. | 1 |
Financial Analyst | Early-stage CAPEX/OPEX modeling and business case development. | 1 |
Beyond definitions
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How to read this table
- Each row is one team role; the Responsibility column describes what that person produces at conceptualisation stage; Est. Count is the typical headcount.
- These are the roles for the conceptualisation phase only — the team expands significantly in later phases (Feasibility, EPC, Commissioning).
- Some roles may be combined in smaller projects — the Chemical Process Engineer and Sustainability Consultant functions, for example, can be handled by the same external consultancy.
About this table
The project conceptualisation phase is where a depolymerisation plant idea becomes a defined project with a technology pathway, site concept, feedstock plan, and preliminary financial case. Getting the right people into this phase — and no more than that — determines how quickly the project advances to bankable feasibility without over-investing in teams that belong in later stages. This table lists the six roles that a project team needs at conceptualisation stage, with their specific responsibilities and typical headcount.
The Project Director holds the strategic and funding brief — aligning technology pathway choice with investor requirements, managing board or promoter expectations, and ensuring the team's work products are structured for fundraising or bank presentation. The Chemical Process Engineer (1–2 people at this stage) selects the technology pathway (glycolysis vs hydrolysis vs methanolysis), produces the preliminary Block Flow Diagram (BFD), and develops the mass balance that all subsequent financial modelling depends on. These two roles are the foundation of the conceptualisation team — the rest build on their outputs.
The Sustainability or Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Consultant maps the carbon footprint goals and circularity metrics at conceptualisation stage — increasingly required by investors and offtake partners who want to understand the ESG credentials of the project before committing. The Feedstock and Logistics Specialist assesses whether the required plastic waste volumes and quality are available within economic sourcing radius — no amount of technology excellence can save a plant sited too far from its feedstock. The Facility Architect or Planner does preliminary site zoning and layout at this stage — enough to confirm that the land footprint and industrial zoning are feasible, without the cost of a detailed engineering design. The Financial Analyst builds the early-stage CAPEX and OPEX model and business case that frames the feasibility study scope.
Key insights
- The Chemical Process Engineer's Block Flow Diagram and mass balance are the single most important outputs of the conceptualisation phase — all subsequent financial and feasibility work is built on them.
- The Feedstock and Logistics Specialist assessment should happen concurrently with process engineering, not after — technology pathway selection and feedstock availability must be validated together.
- A Sustainability or LCA Consultant is no longer an optional addition for Indian depolymerisation projects — ESG and carbon traceability is increasingly required by international offtake partners and impact investors.
- The conceptualisation team of 6–7 roles is deliberately lean — detailed site engineering, permitting, and procurement teams belong in later phases and should not be hired before feasibility is validated.
Methodology & sources
Team roles and headcounts described are based on typical project development practice for chemical plastic recycling plants in India as of 2024. Actual team composition depends on project scale, whether the promoter is a first-time entrant or an established industrial group, and whether technology is licensed or indigenously developed. Some roles (Sustainability Consultant, LCA Analyst) may be contracted as external advisors rather than direct hires.
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