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From reuse to a circular economy

What once started out as the reuse of second-hand items, has morphed into the sustainable design of products that remain in the economic system for as long as possible. A brief history of the circular economy.

Recyclability of solar panels

Producing electricity using solar panels is better for the environment than using coal-fired power stations. That’s a no-brainer. But the service life of a solar panel is only 20 years, and then where does it end up? Miro Zeman, head of the Electrical Sustainable Energy department, has been researching solar panels for almost 30 years and explains how solar panels are recycled.

Recycling aircraft

If you fast-forward Derk-Jan van Heerden’s work, it’s a bit like watching a scene in a nature documentary in which red ants demolish a carcass. Only the TU alumnus works with metal rather than flesh and blood. “There are about 250 tonnes of aluminium at Twente Airport," says Van Heerden over the phone.

A small wide-angle washing machine

Tropomi tracks global air pollution with unprecedented precision. KNMI and TU Delft researchers Pieternel Levelt and Pepijn Veefkind were at the conception of this satellite instrument. “We can now model plumes of nitrogen dioxide back to the chimney they came from.”

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