The Refinery of the Future: A Living Lab for Circular Campus Transformation, led by Bert Weckhuysen, has received an incubator grant. This educational initiative aims to transform Utrecht Science Park into a real-life testing ground for circular innovation.

University campuses consume enormous amounts of energy and materials, making them ideal places to model sustainable alternatives. This initiative proposes a radical step: reimagining the campus as a living lab for circularity, where on-site CO₂ emissions and plastic waste are turned into valuable resources. At its heart are pilot technologies designed to sustainably convert captured CO₂ into renewable energy sources and to transform plastic waste into chemical building blocks.

This initiative goes far beyond chemistry and engineering. It brings together students, scholars, and professionals from multiple disciplines to co-create systemic change, integrating sustainability science, law, economics, governance, communication, and community engagement into one unified approach.

The Incubator Grant is the instrument of the Pathways to Sustainability theme of Utrecht University to invest in community building, understanding for each other’s perspectives, and further developing the consortium and the project idea.

Interested in joining our team? If you would like to know more or become part of the initiative, please do not hesitate to contact Bert.

You can read more about this award here.