Circular Economy: Sustainable Materials Management

Dr. Yuliya Voytenko Palgan is an Associate Professor in Sustainable Development at the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) at Lund University, Sweden. With over 12 years of experience working in multicultural and interdisciplinary teams, she specializes in sustainability, urban governance, innovation, and sustainable consumption. Her research focuses on developing strategies for sustainability solutions in emerging economies, including the bioeconomy, sharing economy, and circular economy, as well as sustainable urban innovation and experimentation through initiatives such as nature-based solutions and urban living labs.

Katherine Whalen is a research associate involved in the MISTRA REES program, a Swedish initiative focused on the business aspects of the circular economy. In addition to her research, she teaches eco-design courses to undergraduate and master’s students at Lund University. Her interests encompass business model innovation, entrepreneurship, and game-based learning. Katherine is the founder of In the Loop Games AB, a startup dedicated to making education for sustainable development both engaging and accessible. Her serious game, In the Loop, has been utilized by universities and companies worldwide to highlight the importance of systems thinking in material supply chains. Prior to her current roles, she worked at Circle Economy, a non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, where she led the Circular Design Program. Katherine holds engineering degrees from Webb Institute and Delft University of Technology.

Sophie Sfez is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Sustainable Organic Chemistry and Technology at Ghent University. With a background in agronomy and environmental science, she transitioned to research after two years as a sustainability consultant in Brussels. Sophie completed her PhD in late 2017, focusing on the environmental sustainability of resource recovery systems and technologies. During her doctoral studies, she contributed to several European projects, including MEASURE (Metrics for Sustainability Assessment in European Process Industries) and REPAIR (Resource Management in Peri-urban Areas: Going Beyond Urban Metabolism). In addition to her research, she serves as a teaching assistant, supervising master's thesis students and teaching courses on Clean Technology and Air Pollution. Her research interests include organic waste management, innovation in resource recovery from waste and wastewater streams, and the sustainability of decentralized energy and wastewater treatment systems.

Dr. Erika Faigen is a postdoctoral researcher with a focus on the value dimension in global value chains, particularly concerning minerals and end-of-life materials. Her academic background encompasses international development, geopolitics, environmental management, and economic/political geography. Dr. Faigen's recent research investigates rare earth elements, including the assessment of mineral occurrences and challenges related to recycling these materials from end-of-life products like light bulbs. She also explores the concept of mineral criticality and governance dynamics within global value chains, analyzing the coordination and control mechanisms that influence collaborative manufacturing efforts across geographically dispersed firms. Currently affiliated with the Centre for Minerals and Materials at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, her work has been published in notable journals such as Resources Policy and Resources, Conservation and Recycling.

Saskia Manshoven is a researcher and project manager in the Sustainable Materials Management unit at VITO, where she specializes in waste management, circular economy, circular business models, and life cycle thinking. With extensive experience collaborating with industry and providing policy support for national and European authorities, she actively engages in stakeholder participation processes related to resource management and the bioeconomy. Saskia has contributed to several international research projects funded by Interreg, the European Commission, the European Environment Agency, and EIT Raw Materials. In addition to her research work, she teaches courses on circular economy and sustainable materials management as part of environmental management professional education programs. Prior to her current role, she gained three years of experience in environmental consultancy focused on groundwater treatment and soil remediation. Saskia holds a degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Leuven, obtained in 2003.