Honorary doctorate for a special microbiologist

Together with more than 10 colleagues from different universities, ETE Professor Huub Rijnaarts took the initiative for the nomination of Willy Verstraete for an honorary doctorate, for his contributions to Environmental Biotechnology oriented on resource recovery. According to Rijnaarts and the initiators for the award, Professor Verstraete has been a major inspiration for many students and scientists active in this field. He showed that microorganisms are important allies to solve many societal problems related to health, waste management, reuse of raw materials and closing cycles for a circular economy.

Microorganisms to recycle

‘Willy was far ahead of his time, and saw the potential of microorganisms to recycle carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous from waste’, Rijnaarts says. ‘Being a student in soil quality and waste water management and microbiology back in the 1980’s, I met him during the frequent courses and lectures he gave in Wageningen and he inspired me with his vision to apply microorganisms in circularity and sustainability. Without any doubt, these lectures strongly contributed to the basis of my later career.’

Better reuse of resources

During most of his working life, Verstraete’ s vision influenced Rijnaarts and colleagues to change traditional treatment methods for wastewater. These methods are still predominantly oriented on removal of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) from water, using high amounts of oxygen and energy, and losing these as chemical waste (P) and to the atmosphere (C and N). This was and is not sustainable’, Rijnaarts explains. ‘At ETE we all applied and further developed Willy’s philosophy, to close cycles in waste management by smartly using microorganisms, to recover C, N and P as reusable products, and remove harmful chemicals such as pharmaceuticals and salts. This will lead to a much better reuse of these resources, i.e. carbon in biogas or organic polymers and N and P as fertilizers for sustainable agriculture’.

Lasting impact

Verstraete’ s continuing collaboration with different Universities, including Wageningen UR and Delft University, made a lasting impact on the achievements in the environmental sciences and technology. Rijnaarts: ‘The idea to award him the honorary doctorate was, not surprisingly, quickly embraced by all colleagues and resulted in a joint application.’ Even today, Verstraete’ s vision still influences many scientists. ‘The two currently most urgent grand societal challenges, like reducing carbon emissions and reducing nitrogen emissions, can much better be solved if society would include environmental biotechnologies that work with the help of microorganisms’, Rijnaarts says. ‘Willy’s vision he introduced 40 years ago is becoming more relevant for society and science day by day.’