Staff
Professors
prof. dr. ir. Steven De Meester
Research areas: Sustainable design of (bio)chemical process chains.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 24 12 36
prof. dr. ir. Pieter Nachtergaele
also involved at STEN
Research areas: Digital solutions for advanced process monitoring & optimisation of circular & biotechnological processes.
Tel: +32 (0)9 264 59 18
Postdocs
dr. Sibel Ügdüler
Research areas: Pre-treatment of plastic waste.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
dr. ing. Dave Manhaeghe
Research areas: Develop and optimize processes for recycling flexible plastic films, from delamination and de-inking to EFSA and FDA compliance testing for food-grade quality. Efficient media management to support high-quality, solvent-based mechanical recycling.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 94
dr. Rita Kol
Research areas: Cleaning of plastic waste by solvent-based technologies.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
dr. ing. Tobias De Somer
Research areas: Development and optimization of advanced processes for washing of plastics. Engineering and technology implementation in physical recycling processes at industrial scale.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 94
dr. ir. Elisabetta Carrieri
Research areas: Development of technologies for solvent-based recycling of plastics.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
publications, Patent application nr. PCT/EP2025/084743
dr. Wang Li
Research areas: Plastic sorting and recycling model, digital twin and EPR scheme.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
dr. Huan Gao
Research areas: The enzymatic degradation of adhesives in plastic packaging.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
dr. ir. Friso Versteeg
also involved at LCT
Research areas: Supercritical CO2 extraction and hydrothermal liquefaction.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
dr. Emelin Yhoany Luna Barrios
Research areas: Development of processes for chemical recycling of PET and PC.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
dr. ir. Thien Nguyen
Research areas: Purification of pyrolysis oil from plastic waste.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
Assistants
Joël Hogie
also involved at LIWET
Senior lecturer for process engineering
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 20 15
ing. Nils Vermeeren
Research areas: Analysis of physicochemical phenomena occurring during the deinking of plastic waste.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
Ph.D. students
Alexandra Schmuck
Research areas: Analysis of quantity and quality of available feedstock for chemical recycling of plastic waste.
Tel: +32 (0) 456 65 14 49
Amin Tehrani
Research areas: Downstream Processing of Depolymerization Products for Oxygenated Polymers.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
ir. Shreyash Gujar
Research areas: Development of plastic life cycles with more biobased content and more circularity.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
Myrika Stefanidou
Research areas: Removal of N(I)AS from plastic waste by dissolution recycling.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
Isabela Felizea Amistad Daras
Research areas: Development of a sustainable biosolvent-based recycling technology towards increasing the quality and purity of recyclates.
tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
Viktor Buysse
Research areas: Studying the interactions between solvent, NIAS and polymers during solvent based recycling.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
ir. Loren Van Schelvergem
Research areas: Development of chemical analysis methods and recycling processes that enable polyolefins to be recycled to food contact quality.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
Natalia Nowak
Research areas: Degradation of additives in plastic recycling.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
Hannah Droste
Research areas: Developing EPR systems for footwear circularity.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
Bogdan Pješivac
Research areas: Integrated dissolution-depolymerization process for maximizing footwear recycling.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
Daniël Withoeck
also involved at LCT
Research areas: Modelling the Chemical Recycling process of Mixed Plastic Waste: from sorting to cracking.
Tel: +32 9 331 17 56
Scientific staff
ir. Jordy Doolaege
Research areas: Modelling of leaching and dissolution processes in the context of plastic recycling.
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
ing. Tine Van Laere
Scientific support for industry projects
Administrative & technical Staff
Elina Selmurzaeva
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
Jung Suk Coene
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 21 93
ing. Lies Harinck
also involved at LIWET
Lab coordinator (ATP)
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 20 15
Pieter Knockaert
also involved at LIWET
Tel: +32 (0) 56 32 20 15
Mauro Vanwynsberghe
also involved at LIWET
Isabel Laperre
Tel: +32 (0) 56 24 12 17
Business developers
Ilse Christiaens
Business developer plastic recycling
Tel: +32 487 46 97 78
Nathan De Geyter
Business developer circular bioeconomy
Tel: