A team of students from Wageningen University & Research has won the Dutch national final of the Bio-based Industries Student Challenge Europe (BISC-E). The winner was announced live at the Bio Innovations Europe event. Their project, CircuTech, tackles one of the textile industry’s toughest problems: how to make waterproof, breathable fabric without PFAS.
Most outdoor gear relies on synthetic membranes and “forever chemical” coatings to stay dry. Those coatings work well. But they don’t break down. They build up in soil and water for decades.
CircuTech offers a different approach. The team replaced the synthetic membrane with bacterial polyester (PHBV) and natural fibres like hemp and PLA. For the water-repellent layer, they used plant-derived carnauba wax nanoparticles instead of fluorinated coatings. The result is a fabric that performs like Gore-Tex but biodegrades in soil and marine environments.
Team members Benjamin de Beaufort, Maartje Post van der Burg, and Jules Tack took home first prize: €1,000 and a place at the BISC-E European finals. Two other Wageningen teams, Caring Current and Repello, also reached the top three and pitched live to the Bio Innovations Europe audience.
The competition challenges student teams across Europe to design biobased solutions to real industrial problems, then defend them in front of a judging panel and a live audience. This year’s Dutch jury included Kirsten Herben-Steinbusch of BioBased Circular, Maddalena Eloisa Logrieco of Avans University of Applied Sciences, Lambertus (Ben) van den Broek of Wageningen Food & Biobased Research, and Alejandro Ortega of StartLife.
The Dutch final was made possible with support from BioBased Circular, Bio Innovations Europe, and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC). Hosting the final gave Bio Innovations Europe’s audience a front-row seat to the next generation of biobased innovation, straight from the pitch stage.
Congratulations to all the teams who took the stage. CircuTech now heads to the BISC-E European finals, where they’ll represent the Netherlands against winning teams from other countries.
