Recycling consumer products gets much attention. The circular economy calls upon us to cut down on waste and energy use and to stimulate recycling. Plastic recycling is in vogue. But rubber recycling is almost non-existent. Like recycling car tyres, which … Read more
Plastics are wonderful materials; as far as their functionalities in direct use are concerned. But in many cases, they are a headache in the waste phase. For a long time, the waste phase used to be of minor importance to … Read more
Suddenly, articles on plastic recycling pop up everywhere. Spurred on the one hand by continued growth in plastics production; and on the other hand by the ever growing problem of plastic waste. Scientists foresee that in 2050, there will be … Read more
In Europe, just 16% of bio waste is processed to some form of useful application. Meaning: food and garden waste. An upcoming report by the Biobased Industries Consortium and Zero Waste Europe calculates the potential, and maps interesting and successful … Read more
Last month, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation completed a series of reports on climate change with a strong message. Don’t just reduce emissions; restructure the economy as well, from a once-through wasteful economy to a circular economy. Or else, industry and … Read more
Michael Carus, managing director of the German nova-Institute, has stirred up the plastics debate. While plastic waste is piling up and the seas get filled with plastic soup, Carus makes a plea for the use of more plastics. A better … Read more
The past World Bio Markets Conference in Amsterdam proved an interesting happening, not so much because of what was said, but more explicitly because of what was not dealt with. Sustainability was the overarching conversation topic of the conference. Although … Read more
The use of microalgae for water purification is not widespread. Yet, they are very well capable of doing so, says Paul Hamm. Twenty-five years ago, he was involved as an investor in water purification by microalgae. But he was too … Read more
One month ago me and my two fellow interns arrived in Chicago and started our work here at the Consulate-General of the Netherlands. The focus of my specific project is to look into the opportunities that may exist and connections … Read more
Two concepts, the bioeconomy and the circular economy, have much in common but seem to belong to different universes. Proponents of the circular economy treat the bioeconomy as a fringe phenomenon, that circles around biodegradation; whereas the bioeconomy does not … Read more
The 13th Material Xperience, ‘the world’s largest multisectoral materials exhibition’, will take place 13-15 March in Ahoy, Rotterdam. Tuned towards materials innovation, it will show materials in six categories: architecture, interior, fashion & workwear, product, mobility and graphic & packaging. … Read more
In a first article, we proposed that plastic waste should no longer exist in ten to fifteen years from now. This ambitious goal needs to be tackled from two sides: plastics design on the input side, and dedicated processing on … Read more
Mankind needs to set a clear goal: plastic waste should no longer exist in ten to fifteen years from now. This ambitious goal needs to be tackled from two sides: plastics design on the input side, and dedicated processing on … Read more
Geopolitics has long circled around reserves of fossil fuels, the most critical assets in a fossil-based world. But although they will be around for a few more decades, fossil fuels will gradually become less important as a global power factor. … Read more
It is an unfortunate fact that clothes, even those made of organic, low impact or recycled materials, are often not reused or recycled themselves. The majority end up in landfill or are incinerated. Inspired by the recently launched partnership of … Read more
The International Conference on Bio-based Materials, an annual highpoint on the bio-based industry’s calendar hosted by Germany’s nova-Institute, was held this year for the tenth time, in Cologne, Germany. As always, the conference concluded the first day with the presentation … Read more
The term bioplastics causes much confusion and will continue to do so, according to my conviction. The public does not seem to grasp the difference between bio as in biobased and bio as in biodegradable. As the plastic soup problem … Read more
The biobased and circular economy is coming nearer and nearer. Each year, new applications of biobased resources come to the market. Industry aims at using the whole crop, among others by valorisation of what used to be called waste streams. … Read more
We are underutilising waste, says Eva Gladek, CEO of Metabolic in Amsterdam. It is a very important source for a circular economy. The most important challenge is not technical but legal, although large companies like DSM need a more homogeneous … Read more
Metabolic has quickly ascended to leadership in the field of circular economy consultancy in the Netherlands since its establishment in 2012. Recent projects include the bioremediation of a waterfront industrial area and a study of the world food system and … Read more
Do not use wood just for energy, say WWF and the Mondi Group, an international packaging and paper company, in a recent study performed by nova Institute and IEEP, the Institute for European Environmental Policy. This is remarkable, as many … Read more
Early this year, the Ellen McArthur Foundation published a policy report ‘The New Plastics Economy, Rethinking the Future of Plastics’. This is an important document, as it wraps up responsible thinking about the mounting problem of plastic waste, and what … Read more
Phosphorus is an essential ingredient of life on earth. It is a component of DNA and of bones, and it fulfils a key role in energy transfer in living cells. Yet it was regarded as an evil element after its … Read more
‘The biobased economy might not seem to make much progress right now, because very few major developments are being announced. But behind the scenes, companies make spectacular progress, they will only announce it when they have covered it from all … Read more
We all know the stories about DDT, fifty years ago – but did we learn from them? Not quite, says Ton Schoot Uiterkamp, a retired – but still very active – professor in environmental sciences at Groningen University. He has … Read more
In her book ‘Nature as an inventor’ (in Dutch), Ylva Poelman beautifully paints bionics as the subject of the future. Bionics is learning from nature: applying successful solutions from nature – billions of years of invention for free, as the … Read more
Bioplastics started their development just recently, said Innovia’s Andy Sweetman at the Bio!Pac conference, last week. Fossil-based plastics are at the height of their learning curve, they cannot improve very much anymore. Whereas there is much room for improvement in … Read more
If we could really succeed in establishing a sustainable production chain of concrete, it would be more effective and cheaper than solar and wind power. An example of the potential of green building for the environment and a sustainable society. … Read more
At present, we incinerate used car tyres, because recycling is too difficult. A new R&D program TREC, for which Michelin has established cooperation with the biotechnological company of Protéus, will have to change that. Tyre recycling, we can do it … Read more
Glocal is the buzzword at Ecover: a term coined from Global and Local. Glocal also is the name of a major Ecover project, together with Forum for the Future, intended to sow the seeds for local production and local circular … Read more
The meeting of the Public Servants’ Sustainability Network in The Hague was innovative. Artistic contributions like paintings, a performance and positioning turned it into more than a purely intellectual exercise. The meeting’s workshops were about material waste streams like metals … Read more
The Dutch agricultural sector has one major problem: an excess of manure production as a consequence of the large livestock population. Dutch livestock farming depends on major imports of soy and other crops for fodder production. ‘At the end of … Read more
‘Cradle-to-cradle (C2C) shows some undesirable developments, in particular in the process of awarding certificates. C2C has become a business model, and the famous certificate promotes recycling and therefore discarding of products. Let us prefer products that last instead, products that … Read more