As part of a European project called Ecopack (http://www.ecopack-label.eu/), we are carrying out a small survey towards raw material manufacturers, packaging producers, end-users and other stakeholders of the sector, in order to assess the knowledge on biodegradable packaging and how they are perceived. This survey is totally anonymous. We kindly ask you to complete these few questions available online at: Manufacturers & Stakeholders
 
Since the treatment of waste from packaging is a social issue, we have also prepared a questionnaire for consumers, which is available online at: Consumers

Please feel free to disseminate these questionnaires among your friends and family, or to your ... Read more

As part of the Marshall Plan projects, CELABOR just started a new study about biopreservation of refrigerated food. The FLORPRO project aims to use protective flora acting against alteration and/or pathogen germs in order to lengthen the shelf-life of perishable foodstuff. To obtain such a result, an advanced study of the produce is necessary. Amongst others, it is imperative to have a detailed view of the flora found inside the foodstuff, an analysis made possible through metanogenomics and carried out within this project by the University of Liège. CELABOR contributes to the study of foodstuff alteration in time using modern techniques such as GC-MS. As part of this project, CELABOR ... Read more

The use of natural fibres in replacement of glass fibres for the reinforcement of plastics is a current subject in consideration of the ecological trend and the progressive depletion of petrol resources.

Like all the natural materials, the natural fibres (notably from flax or hemp) must be well controlled in order to fully benefit from them. The value scattering and the reproduction in time are factors to be considered if one wants to gain the potential users' confidence.
For years, Celabor has been studying the granulometric and morphologic characterisation of short fibres used in the injection and extrusion processes.

Within the framework of the CILAB project supported by Wallonia and Feder, Celabor ... Read more

Grow2Build is a project of transnational cooperation funded by Feder and Wallonia (2013-2015).
Grow2Build works on the transition of the North West European economy from an oil based economy towards a biobased economy.
The project focuses specificly on hemp and flax based building materials: Grow2Build wants to tackle the remaining bottlenecks through the whole product chain (production and supply) of hemp and flax based biobuilding materials as well as in the marketing of those products.
Focus is put on hemp and flax, as the NWE region is particularly suitable for cultivation of these crops compared to other European regions ánd these crops can fit perfectly in a sustainable primary production system.
 
The main ... Read more

CELABOR has been active for a long time in waste water treatment. In that frame, the environmental department has recently acquired two new pilot scale water treatment equipments.

The first one is based on the use of algae as an alternative to classical bacterial waste water treatments. Through a European CORNET R&D project called ALBAPRO, CELABOR developed a pilot plant where algae and bacteria work in symbiosis in order to treat industrial waste water (paper, agro-food industries…) and to generate high environmental quality effluents. To characterize this algae-bacteria based procedure in a practical case, CELABOR installed its pilot in Val-Dieu for brewery waste water treatment. ... Read more

CELABOR is active in plant extraction and possesses laboratory and pilot scale extraction equipment. The centre gives priority to the development of environmentally friendly processes. Those various green processes enable a major decrease in the volume of fossil solvents and/or the energy needed for the extraction.

 

Amongst these eco-processes, the use of heated and pressurised solvents is an excellent alternative to classical solvents: supercritical CO2 (in place of hydrocarbons) for apolar compounds and subcritical water (in place of alcohols) for polar compounds. The use of these extraction processes will be the focus of the conference given by Stéphane KOHNEN, PhD, on April 16th for the ... Read more