Devel'up 2.0

Team: 5

Team members: Jarno Boysen, Casimir Coussement, Stoffel Van Impe

Coach: Bert Vuylsteke, Bert.Vuylsteke@UGent.be (UGent) + UGent (Francesca)



Challenge: (Devel'up by Bert Vuylsteke, won the OVAM Ecodesign awards for students). DIY bio-materials, are getting plentiful, but !!! Bio is not same as Eco. The DIY bio materials we work on can be composted at home, while many ecofriendly or bio plastics, cannot be discarded in the regular compost bin, but have to go to a special waste plant to degrade. The biomaterials we work with, are chiefly comprised of “vegetable and fruit waste”. Nevertheless, many challenges remain open, for example:

  • what systems can be deployed to gather the vegetable and fruit waste of both businesses like supermarkets and normal citizens?

  • food banks also rely on vegetable and fruit waste. How can you overcome to collaboratively work with food banks, instead of taking away their resources?

  • How can we remain aware of the “waste valorization paradox” (Thus both prevention and valorization of waste are priority, but do not go hand in hand)?

  • how can this material be enhanced (see precious plastics) to make it perform even better?

  • what other products or product groups can be developed with these materials (take in consideration the LCA, the product alternatives, technical aspects of the materials, experiential character of the materials)?

  • If a product made from this biomaterials is to be discarded, could it possibly be shredded and reused to make a new one with same characteristics?

  • How can we engage different stakeholders and actors in developing this material further, identifying possible applications as prototyping material? How can we make this a self-sustainable system?

  • ...


Starter kit includes:

  1. Sample of Devel'up


Infrastructure needed:

  • Hotplate

  • Pots and small utensils

  • Mixer (in the BioFabLab at IDC)

  • Drier (in the composite lab at IDC)


Specific sources: