RUSTICA visit to Biobest and the Centre of Expertise Sustainable Biomass and Chemistry

On the first day, we visited Biobest. Biobest is located in Westerlo, and was found in 1987 by Roland De Jonghe, a veterinarian and bumblebee enthusiast. The mission of the company is to contribute to global sustainable production of high-value crops by being the most reliable partner in biological crop protection and pollination. Karel Bolckmans welcomed us at the company and, after a guided tour, we had a discussion on the challenges of implementing the bioeconomy.

On the second day, we visited The Centre of Expertise Sustainable Biomass and Chemistry, at Campus Geel of Thomas More. The Centre conducts research to optimise the production of insects and microalgae. Furthermore, they investigate the practical applications of this biomass, conducting experiments both at laboratory and pilot scales. For this visit, Laurens Broeckx was our guide.

From the RUSTICA consortium, partners from Belgium, The Netherlands and Spain were represented:

• Tessa Avermaete, Erika De Keyser and Margo Heremans (KU Leuven)
• Daan Kuiper (CropEye)
• Michael Pil (Avecom)
• Nathan Deman (DRANCO)
• Juan Cortes (Entomo)