Do you wanna know how to recycle? Check out the guides LUGO made! The recycling guides can be both found in Dutch and English, and are specified for both Leiden and The Hague.

The demand for neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets is rapidly growing, while the neodymium supply chain is under pressure. Recycling can alleviate these issues. This thesis investigates the potential for deploying novel magnet recycling technologies and their environmental consequences.

On the 8th of September Yun-An Olivia Dung successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

The majority (80%) of e-waste generated globally are recycled informally in developing countries.

Integrating life cycle assessment (LCA) with life cycle costing (LCC) offers the opportunity to simultaneously analyze the environmental and economic aspects of product alternatives, for the integration of which a unified computational has been proposed by Heijungs et al. (2013) [1]. The project aims…

Playing with tiny building blocks might sound like child’s play, but Vera Meester knows better. On June 7 she will defend her thesis on colloids: micro particles with which you can form larger structures. Meester developed a method to make unusable structures usable.

Do e-waste workers display enhanced effects of adverse health effects due to informal e-waste processing in Nigeria? Is there a difference between the health outcomes of the exposed and the control groups? Are there difference in health effects within and between job groups (collectors, dismantlers,…

Most people think of waste as something dirty that needs to be disposed of as soon as possible, but Olivia Yun-An Dung's dissertation aims to show that this does not always have to be the case. For this purpose, she focuses on Tzu Chi recycling in Taiwan. There, an army of elderly volunteers has been…

This study focused on how households' food consumption and waste were adapted to lifestyles during COVID-19.

What are the flows of C&DW (e.g. bricks, concrete, gypsum and wood) in the case study countries ? How to define the specification for each material to be quantified? What indicators should be used to identify the pattern of each C&DW management system? How to interpret the MFA results in relation…

Manufacturers produce high-end technology mostly top-down with large machinery, but small particles are able to build structures by themselves from the bottom up. A major challenge is that these particles easily clump together. Leiden physicist Daniela Kraft has developed a method to use this phenomenon…

Where and how are critical materials currently used and how can this information be used to develop scenarios about their future demand.

It’s Circular Economy Week, from 1 to 6 February. But what is it that makes an economy circular? And just how circular is our university? René Kleijn, lecturer on the honours class Circular Economy: from challenge to opportunity, explains.

Merijn Tinga hit the headlines in 2016 as the Plastic Soup Surfer. In force six winds, the Leiden biologist ventured across the English Channel on a hydrofoil kiteboard made from plastic bottles. Interview with this Leiden artist who is fighting the mountain of plastic waste and finding his feet as…

Besides being the author of such a classic work of literature as The Hobbit, Tolkien was also Professor of English Language and Literature in Oxford. How did he incorporate his research in his fiction? An international conference on the subject is being held in Leiden on 18 June.

Besides being the author of such a classic work of literature as The Hobbit, Tolkien was also Professor of English Language and Literature in Oxford. How did he incorporate his research in his fiction? An international conference on the subject is being held in Leiden on 18 June.

Vinasse is a major by-product generated by the sugarcane biofuel industry. It is a source of microbes, nutrients and organic matter and often it is recycled as fertilizer.

How can challenge-based learning in higher education contribute to sustainable urban waste management and support The Hague’s transition to a zero-waste city by 2050?

What is better for waste recycling: a plastic, paper or ceramic cup? A bio-based or fossil-based coating? Waste sorting at the source or at a recycling facility? Ask ten experts and you will get ten different opinions. We can all agree on one thing: doing nothing is not an option. Thus, Leiden University…

This thesis aims to address offshore wind energy (OWE)-related environmental impacts.

What are the life-cycle environmental impacts and risks to human health and ecosystems of a III-V/Si PV system? How can these be expected to change when the system is deployed at industrial scale? What are the most favourable recycling scenarios?

What happens to the different waste streams?

Autopaghy is an intracellular degradation system which targets cytosolic components to lytic compartments for degradation and recycling of the building blocks of the cell.

Product packaging is essential. It prolongs shelf-live and highly influences purchasing decisions. However, it’s also a big source of waste, especially single-use plastic. Have you ever felt conflicted choosing a product due to the material it’s packaged in? Or opted for a different product due to its…

As part of LUGO’s focus on responsible recycling of e-waste (electronic waste) we participated in the Funky Phone Challenge.

To meet the rising demand for minerals driven by the global shift to clean energy technologies, ensuring responsible and resilient supply chains is critical. Minerals like cobalt, lithium, and nickel for batteries, neodymium and zinc for wind turbines, and indium for solar panels are essential.

Leiden University purchases a wide range of goods and services every year. To a greater or lesser extent, they all have an environmental impact.

International trade has played a major role in defining the modern global economy. Trade, however, entangles the environmental pressures of economic sectors, giving the illusion of environmental improvements, while the opposite may be occurring.

Promotor: G.J. Kramer Co-Promotor: E.G.M. Kleijn

Nederland Circulair! is organising the week of the circular economy, for the second time. This is a great setting for Leiden University to promote several of the university’s circular initiatives. We will kick off with an initiative by alumna Noortje Schrauwen: Raw material beachcombing.

Decarbonizing the building stock is critical for realizing the climate-neutral target for the Netherlands.

While colloidal aggregates are often undesirable due to their random shapes, we exploit them as a starting point to synthesize patchy particles.

Duurzaamheid op de campus, energietransitie, groen, circulair

Over the past century, the world population has grown exponentially, as has our need for energy and raw materials. If we wish to continue to live prosperously in the future, we have to radically restructure our economy and consumption. Scientific research shows us how to do this.

Over the past century, the world population has grown exponentially, as has our need for energy and raw materials. If we wish to continue to live prosperously in the future, we have to radically restructure our economy and consumption. Scientific research shows us how to do this.

HiQ-LCA aims to deliver an independent, high-quality Life Cycle Assessment database for use in industrial battery LCA case studies

A sustainable resource management is an essential aspect to satisfy the current human needs without compromising the needs of future generations.

Leiden University is working on a green, circular campus, with a significant reduction in energy consumption by 2050 as its goal, as elaborated in the Route Map Energy Transition Buildings, published in 2022.

Over 2,700 cars on the Fremantle Highway that caught fire on 26 July have been so badly damaged that they cannot be sold. Can we recycle these cars?

What are the functions of autophagy in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger?

We aim to develop A. niger strains that produce more starch degrading enzymes even in the absence of starch.

Currently, the construction is underway for a large, covered bicycle parking facility with space for nearly 3000 bicycles. In the summer of 2024, the Gorlaeus bicycle parking will be ready for use.

The expanding population and economic activity are driving up global energy consumption. Simultaneously, there is an urgent need to transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources to mitigate the climate crisis, primarily caused by fossil fuel combustion.

Material circularity and energy efficiency are highly relevant and intertwined issues for the transition towards a carbon-neutral and circular built environment. In the Netherlands, the building sector has been rendered a priority towards a circular and low-carbon society.

Lecture

How is inflammation in tuberculosis controlled by interplay between autophagy and inflammasome signalling?

Soil is a home for an unbelievable diversity and abundance of microbial life that is essential for supporting life on our planet.