TU Delft takes a circular lead

The Netherlands, with TU Delft playing a key role, is a model example of a country leading in the circular economy. This, in a nutshell, is how David Peck envisages the future. He, together with his colleague, Conny Bakker, first introduced the term into TU Delft in 2012, and he is now sharing his vision of the future, together with Conny, in a special issue. Moving away from fossil fuels or and ending mountains of recyclable waste. Closed cycles in which critical materials are retained and valued, are commonplace. But before we get this far, governments must bring in legislation and regulations and major companies must change the way they work.

At TU Delft, some one hundred+ researchers are working on projects concerning sustainability and circular economy. Jaco Quist and his graduate Eline Leising drew up a step-by-step plan to help one of our country’s most wasteproducing sectors, construction, to redefine its processes. Yongxiang Yang is conducting research into recovering metals from refuse, using a gigantic mountain of waste containing valuable metals in the Port of Rotterdam as a firm example. Our ‘brief history of the circular economy’ shows that the term circular economy relates to older movements. The concept is not new. But there seems to be a difference: the circular concept isn’t only necessary, but can and must prove profitable if David Peck’s vision for the future is to become reality.

The materials mix is complex. The European Commission’s action plan for the circular economy includes a list of 27 'rare' materials, which are hugely important to the European economy but are not currently sourced in Europe. These materials deserve extra attention in terms of economical use, new supply from disused equipment and other forms of circular activity. Read about a fast growing start up - Circularise.

Read more at: https://d1rkab7tlqy5f1.cloudfront.net/Websections/Delft%20Integraal/DO-april-2018-web.pdf