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18 Jul 2024

Wetsus promotes circular economy practices with Agro2Circular as an example

Successful dissemination activities highlight research and education in PHA and circular economy through workshops with industry and schools

This month,  Wetsus successfully conducted two significant dissemination activities for Agro2Circular in the Netherlands, highlighting the ongoing commitment to fostering sustainable practices and education in the field of circular economy.

Workshop with Stakeholders and Potential End-Users for PHA

Wetsus held a workshop with a specific department of Unilever, a company participant at Wetsus, which is a multinational fast-moving consumer goods company, focused on innovative packaging. The workshop included discussions about approaches and challenges in using PHA as an alternative for packaging, particularly the approach to packaging to use less, better or no plastic.

In this scenario, Wetsus used the opportunity to disseminate its research in the context of the A2C project. Namely, developments in extraction characterization of PHBV produced from organic waste.

Find more information about Unilever’s approach here.

Educational Workshop on PHA Production Line in High School

Wetsus also promotes scientific and entrepreneurial careers amongst the youth, by visiting schools for “young researchers” and inviting them to come in contact with water technology, by offering materials and services for teachers and students to come into contact with Wetsus research.  The Wetsus talent program translates water technology to a level that suits the next generation of researchers.

During this workshop, students worked on a PHA related topic with Wetsus’ PhDs specialized in PHA and brough the educational toolkit that was built specially for Agro2Circular to a primary school classroom, where they explained the complete PHA cycle to younger students, by taking A2C as a demonstrator.  They were accompanied and supported by Wetsus Talent team.

 

 

Pictures by Wetsus
Featured image by Louis Reed- Unsplash

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