Project overview

An overview of all the workshops

 

An environmental and social assessment of promotional products in the event sector 

Name of Company:  VAST studio & Blue City

Students involved: William, Lumadjeng, Koray Tunç, Esra Ünsalan, Jeroen van der Wijngaart, Olivier Verhoex, Laurene Vernay, and Tinjun Zou 

Research Description: Ever wonder what the story is behind the promotional flyers pushed into your hands or that are laying around the street? There are over a thousand festivals in The Netherlands per year, and this research is focused on shedding some light on the impact of their offline promotion materials. The research conducted includes a life cycle assessment of a flyer, and the environmental and social impacts this has. As well as an overview of the macro environmental trends and recommendations for the sector. 

 

Analytical Study of a Commercially Viable Circular Supply Chain Model

Name of Company: Taisugar Corporation (in Taiwan) 

Students involved: Jamesly Francois,Wayne Chen, Yassen Ninov & Eiko Bekhbat 

Research Description: Our main research question is: How to develop a commercially viable circular business model for the supply chain of Taiscuo Hypermarket in Taiwan. Recent studies of food waste in supermarkets mostly focus on describing the quantity of waste, problems causing it and how it could be given to charity in order to avoid waste. Therefore, we need to take this problem one step further and investigate waste prevention and waste valorization measures by applying circular business models in the complete supply chain. We have taken a closer look at the food sector of the company by examining all stakeholders, collecting data information and applying the LCA method.   

 

The Transition to a Circular Economy in the Built Environment   

Name of Company: VDLP Architects 

Research team: Sergio Fontes Barbosa Vincente, Mert Gül, Nerea Beldarrain, Selçuk Salman & Taylor Goos 

Research Description: The built environment is responsible for a substantial amount of the waste generated worldwide, and the need for more housing in the Netherlands is increasing rapidly. The willingness is present to become more circular among stakeholders, however new ideas are not being implemented on a larger scale. In order to facilitate a transition to circularity in the process of design, construction, maintenance and demolition of a building - our project focuses on the role of the architect with regards to implementing circular innovations, and their interaction with other stakeholders involved in the process of applying them. 

 

The Valorisation of Flower Waste Streams 

Name of Company: Milgro 

Research team: Claudia Fasser, Sophie de Gaudemont de la Montforière, Charlene Hersman, Alissa Hoogenboom, Laura Stam and Mike in ‘t Veld 

Research Description: Milgro, an outsourcing solution for waste and resource management, has invested in a wastelab for the purpose of increasing the value obtained from waste and resource streams. For one of their clients they are investigating what value can be obtained from the flowers and plants that are currently destroyed due to overproduction. The student team identified three possibly attractive solutions; to sell the flower waste to sustainable soap producers and the stem and leave waste to sustainable paper producers or to use the waste to cultivate fungi that serves as input for the organic production of plant pots. The students have consequently researched the financial feasibility of each solution as well as the market potential and have come up with a final advice for implementation.  

 

Circular activities in addressing waste from cleaning products 

Name of Company: CSU 

Research team: Danique Denis, Justin Dunker, Anne Otegui Rodriguez, Jon Garcia Saiz, Mabel Middelburg 

Research Description: Cleaning Services Uden (CSU) is one of the largest cleaning companies of the Netherlands and provides cleaning services to business offices, hospitals, schools and other business venues like airports. The students investigated how the CSU branch in South-Holland can minimize their environmental impact and work on 3 Circular Economy subprojects.  

Reduction of use of the plastic bags in each office in the Netherlands by implementing innovative systems of garbage collection. 

Recollection and recycling of plastic bottles used by the company for cleaning detergents. 

Repurposing of the cleaning towels that contain micro-plastics.   

 

Feasibility of domestic closed-loop waste management systems  

Name of Company:  Municipality of Rotterdam 

Research team: Remi ten Brinke, Geraldo Guy, Dion Hallink, Aron Vink, Ali Günes, Rowan Duvekot 

Research Description: The students investigated how to design a closed-loop domestic waste-management system for high-rise buildings in the Rotterdam city center with regards to user-friendliness and financial feasibility, while using CE-concepts. How can wastewater of these buildings generate useful output such as nutrients and energy? 

 

The Business Model for Modular Housing 

Name of Company:  

Research team: Cas Hilferink, Max Guttenberg, Chaima Oulad El Hamnaoui, Amaia Larrante 

Research Description:  The Netherlands is facing two problems, an ever-growing housing shortage. As well as an immense challenge in the building sector in terms of reducing waste and greenhouse gases. These challenges are being tackled by a group of students of the Hogeschool Rotterdam to answer the following question: Is a service business model a feasible way for a modular housing concept to facilitate a circular living society in the Dutch housing market? The result in mind is to have living service that will rock the current housing market into a new dimension.  

 

Waste management at Industrial park Halfweg 

Name of Company: Enerless 

Research team: Inigo Alday, Ainhoa Gauna, Roy Kranendonk, Timo Biesheuvel, Germaine Alexander Zijlstra and Jordy Fredrik 

Research Description: The waste management project at the industrial park Halfweg at the municipality of Nissewaard (Spijkenisse) researches the various waste streams at the industrial park and how to efficiently reduce CO2 emissions by collecting this waste. A survey has been done at the industrial park and also interviews with various companies located on the industrial park and with waste retrieval companies. Also, research is done how to reduce excess waste for the approximately 250 companies located on this industrial park by using a circular route instead of a linear route. The project team is supported by the consultancy company Enerless which provides companies energy efficiency consultancy.    

 

Impact assessment of diamond mining operations 

Name of Company: Royal IHC  

Research team: Jason Bos, Magdalena Nedelova, Stefan de Vreede, Felicia Olsson, Mike Serberie, Jackson Afonso 

Research Description: In this research students compared the environmental and economic impact of dry pit and wet pit diamond operations. The comparison used life cycle analysis and life cycle costing as the method to decide on the goal, the scope, the inventory to be included in the analysis to calculate the impacts. The research team made use of extensive company based and peer reviewed and public sources. In the process of their research, they developed two tools that can be applied to different diamond mining operations to calculate the CO2 emissions and the costs involved.