Sustainability of materials
The Sustainability of materials research group investigates the sustainability of materials over their entire life cycle. The mission of the team is to provide suitable methods, metrics, tools, and accurate sustainability assessments of materials to guide the transition from a fossil-based economy to a biobased economy and from a linear to a circular economy.

Research
Consistent and full sustainability assessments are needed to evaluate and enhance the sustainability performance of materials. It is important to address multiple sustainability issues at the same time over the full life cycle of a material, to avoid shifting (instead of improving) sustainability impacts. The multidisciplinary research team uses and advances environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), LCA-derived methodologies and other quantitative approaches to investigate the environmental, economic and social impact of materials. The applied LCA methodologies include attributional and consequential LCA, Life Cycle Costing, Social LCA, and Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment.
The projects of the team focus on different parts of the materials value chain, from the resources and their supply chain, to the production of materials, different applications and end-of-life scenarios. The main areas of research are:
- Materials made from renewable resources: biobased materials
- Greener production routes for manufacturing of materials and chemical intermediates
- Sustainable materials applications
- Materials with improved end-of-life scenarios to prevent waste generation: circular materials
Projects
BioBased ValueCircle
BioBased ValueCircle offers a unique interdisciplinary research and training environment tailored for 12 early stage researchers (PhDs) excited by the development of innovative bio-based products, respecting the principles of the circular economy.
METHASOL
International cooperation for selective conversion of CO2 into METHAnol under SOLar light (METHASOL)
Sustainability of biobased materials in a circular economy
As awareness, research and funding on biobased materials have increased significantly over the recent years, questions on how these innovative materials can help to close the material loops and address environmental issues have become more important than ever.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a versatile technique to quantify environmental impacts and compare different products and technologies.
CurCol
The Interreg NWE project CurCol aims to demonstrate economic potential for the production chains from regionally produced plants to colourants in packaging.
Education

- Master Biobased Materials: Biobased Materials (BBM1001)
- Master Biobased Materials: Skills training Academic Writing/Proposal Writing (BBM1001)
- Master Biobased Materials: Process Technology (BBM 1005)
- Master Biobased Materials: Sustainability of Biobased Materials (BBM1013)
- Maastricht Science Programme: Biobased Materials (INT3005)
- BSc. Business Engineering: Circular Economy Project (Life Cycle Assessment) (BENP 1002)
- Supervision of machelor thesis projects, Maastricht Science Programme
- Supervision of master thesis projects, master Biobased Materials
- Supervision of Capstone projects (thesis), University College Maastricht
- Academic advising in Maastricht Science Programme and master Biobased Materials
- Online training module “Life Cycle Assessment: Basic Principles and Uses”
- Educational Program Committee member master Biobased Materials
- Assessment Platform Science Masters FSE
- Accreditation of Circular Engineering BSc
Staff
Sustainability of materials |
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Yvonne van der Meer, Professor (PI) |
Ali Ghannadzadeh, Assistant Professor |
Pranav Nakhate, PostDoc |
Carlos Andres Garcia Velasquez, PhD |
Svetlana Obydenkova, PhD |
Cris Garcia Saravia Ortiz De Montellano, PhD |
Carolina Bettker Vasconcelos, PhD |
Felicitas Pellengahr, PhD (B4Plastics) |
Materials for a Sustainable Society
Head of the Sustainability of biobased materials-group Associate. prof. Yvonne van der Meer tells about materials for a sustainable society.
Sustainable? green? eco-friendly? Do you also care about the environment and like to learn how to determine if a product/process/service is sustainable? Join our Chemelot InSciTe LCA course next year to find out more!