Circular Economy

Jurjen Koopmans, a Civil Engineering & Management student at the University of Twente, is exploring the challenges of repurposing monumental buildings in his graduation project. He aims to develop a system that identifies and solves common problems in the design of these repurpositions, to ensure a sustainable future for Dutch heritage buildings.

Unsustainable development leads to resource scarcity and endangers our future. The traditional take-make-use-dispose in linear economy causes pressure on supply chains. The only way forward according to Devrim Yazan? A sustainable circular economy. But how do you educate students about the complexity of this sustainability approach?

A looming shortage of clean drinking water is screaming for innovations in water treatment. The Waterlab of the Membrane Science and Technology cluster gives an insight into possible solutions.

For years, we've diligently sorted our waste, but a significant portion of the waste stream remains (yet) unrecyclable. The University of Twente, in collaboration with companies, is researching how to create new products from complex and 'wet' waste streams. This involves efficiently isolating chemical components used in new materials. The multi-year project ReBBloCS - Renewable Building Blocks from Complex and Wet Waste - began last year with a subsidy of €3.8 million from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency.

The waste from potatoes as a source for candy, vegan cheese or other food products. Thanks to UT researcher Sissi de Beer, also director of the Applied Physics programme, it will be possible. She develops innovative separation technologies that are much less harmful to our environment. Sissi and her team received a substantial research grant from NWO a few years ago and the first significant results are now being achieved.