Sustainable Polymer Technologies (SPOT) Team

Our Mission

We stand for design and development of Sustainable POlymer Technologies – Renewable and/or Recyclable

Together with academia and industry, we fight for a greener future where performance of sustainable materials exceeds current standards and limitations.

The team 2023

SPOT Team 2023

News

Launch of the JTF Project C-Recycle: Innovation and Education in Chemical Recycling

Lancering van het JTF Project C-Recycle: Innovatie en Educatie in Chemische Recycling

Biobased building blocks in North Brabant

From grass to glue, from sugar beet pulp to paint or from wood chips to insulation foam!

Dr. Elias Feghali spends 2 months at NREL

Dr. Elias Feghali has spent 2 months at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden Colorado in the team of Dr.

LigninPlus project granted

With the LigninPlus project VITO is able to expand its pilot infrastructure for processing lignin to aromatics. This allows us to speed up the process from lab to pilot!

10th anniversary of Biorizon – 30/11/2023

Time to look back on a successful 10th anniversary of Biorizon, the shared research center we started together with TNO at the time, which focuses on scaling up the production of bio-aromatics.

PhD Marlies Thys – Reversible Adhesives – 27/10/2023

Marlies Thys successfully defended her VITO/VUB PhD and started working as a researcher on material science in VITO.

Two scientific cover publications in one month by VITO researchers

Plastics recycling – the riddle! Session with Prof. Dr. Rudy Koopmans

On the 15th of February 2023, SPOT team was excited to have a full morning session with Prof Dr Rudy Koopmans, who gave us inspiration and useful insights on the global challenge of plastics recycling from an industrial perspective!

SPOT a key member in Biorizon’s annual event

On the 1st of December Biorizon’s annual event took place in the online version. 

VITO and Kaneka join forces to create a sustainable premium polymer

Dr. Karolien Vanbroekhoven and Dr. Elias Feghali participated in the CA17128 LignoCOST Working Groups meeting in Tallinn, Estonia.

In the 24th and the 25th of August 2022, Dr. Karolien Vanbroekhoven and Dr.

SPOT team research featured on the cover of Biomacromolecules

The SPOT team research in collaboration with Kaneka Belgium was highlighted in a cover of the journal Biomacromolecules of the American Chemical Society (ACS).