06 Feb 2024
'Plastics not a curse but a blessing
Last week, Vincent Voet was inaugurated as lecturer in Circular Plastics at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences. He was named a 'rising star' by the trade magazine ACS Media in 2022. During his inauguration, Vincent once again showed why he more than deserved that title after all.
‘People. Planet. Polymer
He took us through his story 'People. Planet. Polymer. A world to win' which focused on the versatility of plastics and the opportunities they offer us. He even created a real Planet Polymers, an experience world for young and old to experience how the lectureship researches plastics recycling. Planet Polymer consisted of United Rubber Kingdom, Recycles and North Polymer. To know what spaghetti has to do with plastics, you had to be there.
Prof. dr. Ger Challa
Prof Ger Challa was Vincent's guest of honour at the inauguration, which was very special because Vincent Voet won the Challa Polymer Chemistry/Technology Prize in 2017.
The surplus of plastic is a big problem but we often forget that plastic is also a very beautiful substance with many possibilities. It is so much more than the foil around your cucumber; for example, synthetic heart valves are also made from it. The interesting thing about my research field is that there are lots of ways to reuse old plastic in new applications.
Professor Circular Plastics (Lector Circulaire Kunststoffen)
‘Plastics geen vloek maar een zegen’
Within his work as a lecturer for NHL Stenden's Circular Plastics lectureship, Vincent is concerned with the transition to a future-proof plastics economy in the Northern Netherlands and beyond. On the NHL Stenden website, you can read how Vincent believes we can reverse the negative aspects of plastics.
