Circular economy

A circular economy respects the finite stocks of raw materials and completely reuses residual materials. Waste only exists in the sense of raw material. For example, clothing and textiles, our second skin, are given a new purpose with the greatest possible added value, and after contaminated soil has been cleaned, it no longer poses a threat to health and the environment, but becomes available again. The ‘urban mine’ - cities and villages with their houses and cars - (the third and fourth skin) - also contains an enormous stock of reusable materials. In this edition, we are focusing on the PFAS problem.  Recently accrued knowledge really makes it clear how harmful PFAS is for people and the environment. The Flemish cleantech expertise in the domain of soil remediation and water purification also offers international perspectives for this transnational challenge.