Sustainable Process Design EngD position: Holland Colours – Pigment recovery from recycled plastics
The University of Groningen is committed to strengthening the Northern Netherlands by addressing modern challenges such as energy transition and sustainability. The Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) contributes to this mission by training skilled professionals through our new EngD programme in Sustainable Process Design. This 2-year post-master design programme, closely collaborating with local companies, focuses on the direct needs of the industry.
The Engineering and Technology Institute Groningen (ENTEG-part of the FSE) of the University of Groningen is offering a fully funded 2-year position to master graduates leading to the award of an EngD (Engineering Doctorate) degree. The EngD programme includes specialized EngD and professionalization courses at the University of Groningen and a design project which will be performed at Holland Colours and the University of Groningen. The position offered is in the context of the project Holland Colours – Pigment recovery from recycled plastics. The appointment is for two years starting in September 2025.
Holland Colours is a mid-size company, active over 45 years, specialized in production of custom-made colour and additive concentrates for use in plastic products for a.o., building and construction, and packaging applications.
Holland Colours Ventures is a.o. scouting, assessing and commercializing technology and materials in the fields of circular and biobased economy. With the objective to regain/retrieve materials from recycled plastics, the dissolution of plastics and following separation of non-soluble matter has been identified as a suitable route to realize this. The goal of the project is to develop, describe and small-scale test a scalable dissolution process on polymer/pigment mixtures as well as plastic waste streams with a high content of pigments. Starting point will be polyester with white TiO2 pigment, but the process can be potentially also be used for other polymers as well.
As a EngD, you will be the link between the academic insights in chemical (dissolution) recycling technology, materials from industry provided by the Ventures team, and design process, system analyses, optimization options, and design proposals for the dissolution process to recover solid materials therefrom.
The project will be executed hybrid at the Brightlands in Geleen (NL), at the RUG, headquarters in Apeldoorn (D) and from home. Geleen has the option to build a prototype small scale process.
Organisation
The University of Groningen (UG) is a research university with a global outlook, but deeply rooted in Groningen, City of Talent. Quality has been a top priority for over four hundred years, and with success: the university is currently in the top 100 of several influential ranking lists.
The Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) offers education and research in a wide range of science disciplines, from traditional disciplines such as physics and biology to interdisciplinary disciplines such as artificial intelligence, industrial engineering and management. The FSE is one of the largest faculties of the UG, home to 14 BSc programmes and 27 MSc programmes. Within the FSE, the Graduate School of Science and Engineering (GSSE) is responsible for hosting the faculty’s 1200 or more PhD candidates and the new EngD trainees, the majority of whom are from abroad.
