Last year we posted a series of interviews with people who work at companies that focus on bio-based raw materials. This year we are making a new series of interviews. In the Netherlands, many people work passionately with biomass as a raw material. They work on innovations, improve (production) processes or create policy for a fossil-free future. In this mini-series we highlight what drives them to work on the transition to a sustainable world. In the first episode of this series of conversations we spoke with Sandra Baan, CEO of IBI².
Sandra Baan is a versatile personality. She is known as an activist, idealist and someone who thinks differently. Her vision on economics, inspired by Gunter Pauli's ideas about systems thinking and the blue economy, forms the core of her work. For her, biomimicry, imitating nature, is a crucial principle in the design process. She sees the circular economy only as an intermediate step on the way to the 'Blue Economy', where holistic systems thinking is central and new scientific insights lead to innovative solutions and sustainable business models.
Sandra's journey began thirty years ago when she graduated as an International Master in Floral Design at HAS University of Applied Sciences in Den Bosch. After a short-lived career at the Italian fashion house Fendi, where she combined her passion for green with creativity, she founded Studio Baan. Here she started exploring issues such as food waste, which eventually led her to the IBI2 institute in Venlo.
The IBI2 institute consists of a group of like-minded people who strive for the Blue Economy, in which inclusive systems thinking is central. This approach encompasses several aspects, with nature serving as a source of inspiration for product development, and biobased technologies, which use organic materials to create environmentally friendly alternatives.
Sandra: “The economic system that emerged after industrialization is purely linear and not circular. This linear philosophy of using and discarding raw materials that therefore no longer return to the chain is no longer sustainable. Our water and food system is under pressure, but the quality of our air in the cities is also worrying. There is a lot of research into nitrogen, into cleaning soil and air and into the 'plastic soup', microplastics and chemicals in the water. But yes, that means mopping with the tap open and we will soon be done with all of us on this planet. In my experience, this awareness has still not been put on the agenda enough, because after all, everything is about quick profits. That's why I'm such a supporter of the Blue Economy.”
The Blue Economy is the place where health and the environment are least burdened and where the necessities of life are available to everyone thanks to a local production and consumption system that works with what you have.”
“We also have to cut back on everything. Otherwise, nature will no longer be able to restore itself, so we are very much on the side of nature, biodiversity and that is also our basis for continuing to live as humans.”
For Sandra, it is certainly not just about business success, but especially about contributing to a better society. She advocates a shift from capitalist behavior to more sustainable and holistic approaches, where the voices of younger generations are taken seriously. Her vision on the future of cities, in which she advocates greater involvement of young people in urban planning, testifies to her commitment to a balanced and more inclusive society.
“There are so many gems of small initiatives in the Netherlands from which we could get so much out of for the Dutch economy, but we notice that these are quickly overlooked by the government. The government but also the large companies are more likely to do business with the big boys, the established order, so to speak. That's a shame, because innovation and energy can mainly be found among the people within smaller companies. That is why we are now looking at mobilizing these SME entrepreneurs into a large group. Sharing knowledge together to achieve greater results
We should not think that we can turn that entire ecosystem upside down with money. If you drink a glass of water from the tap today, you will ingest microplastics. This amounts to an entire credit card's worth of plastic per year. You receive chemotherapy for bladder cancer home from the hospital and the bladder irrigation simply goes down the toilet, it seems like a strange idea to me. Shouldn't the water boards solve the problem? That's strange because we are all responsible for the environment, right?!”
IBI², the innovation agency has developed various machines, including the Venturial, to energetically very efficiently dry and pulverize organic and inorganic substances into new raw materials and products that can be reusable for companies. Consider circular concrete waste, glass and bricks. But also organic residual flows that can be fully reused through more efficient separation technologies. This means that construction can become completely circular if only they want to think differently. Sandra emphasizes the importance of reusing and making every part of products biodegradable, and how technological innovations linked to the ecosystem can help reduce waste streams and realize new industrial policies.
IBI² is currently using three promising plant species for the development of bio-building panels: Hemp, Knotweed and Miscanthus.
“What we do at IBI² is look at the cause of the problems. The easiest thing to do is stick a band-aid and say it's over, but that doesn't solve the problem. We dig deeper and investigate how we can approach it in a truly sustainable way. We also offer governments, companies and other organizations perspectives for action by concretely implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Environmental, Social and Governance (ESGs) and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).”
“We are basically systems thinkers. This means that we look and act at a different level. This allows us to gain more insight into the dominant problems, associated chains and their causality. The current leading chains are a complex world, especially for municipalities.
“By first unraveling these systems, we can help governments, companies and other organizations gain more control over that complexity in order to actually become more sustainable.”
The 5 B's that we apply are the purest form of finding a solution. Biomimicry, Bionic, Biodesign, Biophilia and Biobased design are different design strategies for innovations with the intelligence of nature as a source of inspiration. We use these design strategies to develop new applications of materials, designs and processes. We are not überhumans, but we should look more closely at how nature solves its problems. It is nice to report that we are setting up a free helpdesk for sustainability issues. Anyone who wants to know something about it, municipalities, businesses, government, etc. can use it free of charge. In life, it doesn't all have to cost money, but we just want to offer people concrete perspectives for action. That is important, otherwise it wouldn't happen.”
