Johan is a research fellow at AMS Institute and a Postdoc at the Urbanism department of TU Delft. He is involved in the EU Horizon project REDOL. The goal of the project is to redesign five Solid Urban Waste value chains (packaging, plastics, construction and demolition waste (CDW), textiles and waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE)) to produce circular products through an Industrial-Urban Symbiosis (I-US) approach.
The aim of Johan’s research is to explore what role I-US can play in the circular economy transition within the Metropolitan Region Amsterdam (MRA). Many circular initiatives and innovations exist in the MRA, however, the potential for expanding I-US in the context of resource use and strategic autonomy of the MRA and the EU at large is underutilized. Together with private and public organizations Johan works on unlocking this potential.
“As geopolitical tensions are rising globally, the EU needs to take responsibility and step up its game to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, and other global and regional challenges. By moving towards more autonomy, I believe the EU can take its responsibility. A circular economy can contribute to this when done right.”