To celebrate PLATE’s newest Consortium member, the University of Antwerp, we talked with Dr. Els du Bois.

Tell us more about REuse Lab. 

REuse Lab is an impact lab where we generate the knowledge to enable a world where reuse is the norm. Our team of design researchers helps industry playerstransition to circular product models and value chains. Since 2020, we have worked with around 100 companies and organizations in healthcare, packaging, fashion, and consumer goods. 

Two of my favorite projects are reCURE, testing reusable surgical gowns across operating rooms, and REPASYS, studying consumer adoption of reusable mushroom packaging across citywide supermarkets.

What is most exciting about the product lifetimes field right now?  

We are very invested in the healthcare sector, especially because there is an appetite for circular transition amongst practitioners. Yet we are intervening in a system where hygiene and sterility are still dependent on single use products. Our role as design researchers is to introduce longer life alternatives to these embedded practices – for example, reusable surgical gowns or medical sampling materials. 

What are you looking forward to at PLATE 2027? 

My team and I have always received very constructive and thoughtful feedback from the PLATE community, and we are excited to engage with peers again next summer. I am looking forward to seeing where our community is evolving and learning from each other.