Wageningen University appoints Professor of New public sanitation

Up until this appointment, she was Associate Professor of Anaerobic Treatment of Waste and Wastewater.

Her considerable services to scientific research and education, as well as her remarkable personal qualities, earned her the appointment as Professor holding a personal chair. The appointment will last for five years, with the possibility of prolongation.

Professor Zeeman’s ‘New public sanitation’ field revolves around recovering raw materials such as phosphate, nitrogen, organic substances, energy and water from domestic waste and wastewater. If separated at source using less water, these materials can be recovered more efficiently and used as fertilisers in agriculture, for example. This is an important move at a time when raw materials are becoming increasingly scarce.

The central technology featuring in Professor Zeeman’s teaching and research is anaerobic treatment (i.e. producing biogas in oxygen-free conditions). Thanks to new technologies, it will soon be possible to produce hygienic and environmentally clean and reliable products in residential areas using black (toilet) and grey (bath, shower, washing machine and kitchen) water. Once treated, grey water can safely be recycled for household and agricultural use.

Grietje Zeeman (Alkmaar, 1951) studied Environmental Sciences in Wageningen, where she was awarded a PhD in 1991 for research into the anaerobic fermentation of animal manure. She has been an Associate Professor in the Sub-department of Environmental Technology since 2010, where her particular focus was on new sanitation and recycling. Within the sub-department, she heads the ‘Integration of sustainable environmental technology in urban environments’ group. Grietje Zeeman also works part-time as a senior consultant for LeAF (Lettinga Associates Foundation). Other positions include member of the ‘New Sanitation’ umbrella organisation, an advisory body for the STOWA (the Applied Water Management Research Foundation), the supervisory board of WECF (Women for European Common Future) and chair of the Technical Committee Anaerobics (TCA) of the Royal Dutch Water Network.