Marta Mestre is going to VITO to continue her PhD

Marta Mestre is going to VITO to continue her PhD

Our PhD student Marta Mestre is going to VITO to continue her PhD project. VITO is an independent Flemish research organisation in the area of cleantech and sustainable development. Their goal is to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world.

Best of luck for this new adventure!

🏆 Maliheh Razavi – Best Oral Communication Prize in the BPG2024

🏆 Maliheh Razavi – Best Oral Communication Prize in the BPG2024

This year the Belgium Polymer Group Annual Meeting celebrated its 30th anniversary in Blankenberge, Belgium on May 30-31.

This edition provided a forum to discuss all current topics in polymer science, both by industrials and academics. The meeting was also a platform for both young polymer scientists and lectures.

Our PhD student Maliheh Razavi took part in this year meeting winning the Best Oral Communication Prize.

Congratulations Maliheh!

2024 Seminar on Circular Polymers

2024 Seminar on Circular Polymers

Thank you for participating in the seminar ‘Is a circular economy for plastics possible?’, held in Donostia / San Sebastian (Spain) on the 22nd and 23rd of May.
It was one of our very first events, we were so proud to host you at our university and we hope you enjoyed our program and the whole experience.

Discover more on the seminar on our event page!

Thank you again for joining us in our commitment towards a more sustainable research and practice on polymers. We believe that together, we will soon make the difference!

More events and opportunities to collaborate and discuss advanced practices in sustainable polymers will come soon and we hope to see you again in the future.

Photo credits: Sharon Monaci and Ilaria Aziz

        

🔜 Is a circular economy for plastics possible?

🗓 May 22-23, 2024

📍 Carlos Santamaria Zentroa, San Sebastian (Spain)

📌 Registration is now closed!

The transition towards a circular polymer economy is increasingly encouraged by the global concerns on the emission of greenhouse gases and depletion or resources related with the polymer industry and the environmental impact of the mismanagement of plastic wastes.
Want to know the latest breakthroughs on the topic? Then join us on the 22 nd and 23 rd of May for a two-day seminar on the future of plastics, for transforming the polymer industry from a damaging linear production of plastics to a virtuous circular economy.

The event was imagined inside NATURE-EID and POLINA projects and organized by UPV/EHU-POLYMAT and Polykey with the support of the European Union.

 

DAY 1: Renewable resources for more circular plastics

Polymers synthesised from renewable sources stand as sustainable alternatives to petro-based polymers because they are produced from biomass derivatives or recycled raw materials. Immense challenges remain for these plastics to significantly contribute to a more circular plastic economy as they only represent 1% of the current plastics production worldwide.

The talented speakers of day 1 should help us understand what are these challenges and how they are about to be overcame with new processes, innovative catalysis methods and efficient technology transfer.

 

Karolien Vanbroekhoven. Biorefineries and industrial trends biobased building blocks: what’s on the move?

 

Sylvain Caillol . A Journey around circularity in polymers, from renewable resources to recycling

 

Luis Cabedo Mas . Integration of Biodegradable Plastics into the Circular Economy: Challenges and Opportunities

 

Philip Scholten . Sustainable production of high-performance bio-based chemicals and materials

 

DAY 2: Circularity in Light-Mediated Additive Manufacturing

Additive Manufacturing (AM) has the potential for both reduced energy consumption and less polymeric material utilization. As the name implies, additive manufacturing contrasts with subtractive processes, as it relies on the layer-by-layer deposition of materials. This allows geometric designs of 3D objects with unprecedented complexity, in bulk and porous shapes with reduced waste generation. Among AM methods vat photopolymerization (VP) techniques are well established and considered one of the advanced AM techniques owing to the improved efficiency and printing resolution at the macroscale. However, little attention has been paid to the sustainability of the process in line with the industrial requirements.

Speakers from day 2 will help us to understand the key design parameter for next generation materials for AM, and how to increase the circularity of products derived from AM ensuring that this industrial revolution does not create a new plastic waste problem.

 

Timothy E. Long . Designing Advanced Macromolecules for Advanced Manufacturing: Balancing Reactivity, Rheology, and Resolution

 

Joe DeSimone . The Delicate Interplay Between Light, Interfaces and Design: The Complex Dance that Allows 3D Printing to Scale to Manufacturing

 

Haritz Sardon . Sustainability Aspects in Additive Manufacturing: From biomass utilization to recyclability

 

Eva Blasco . Functional polymers for 4D microprinting: towards “living” systems

 

Some photos of the event!

                         

Haritz Sardon is visiting Wacker Chemie AG

Haritz Sardon is visiting Wacker Chemie AG

Haritz Sardon together with our researchers Xabier Lopez De Pariza and Alice Marchand is visiting the Wacker industry in German for a special reunion.

At WACKER, they are taking responsability for the large amount of energy necessary to run the chemical sector by taking difficult steps towards ambitious climate-protection targets, and with a product portfolio that contributes to the success of the climate and energy transition. Thank you for your precious commitment!

Wacker is one of our industrial partner and we are thankful for its trust on our research and professionality.

Discover more on our project with Wacker in our projects page!