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Edgar Battand Towa Kouokam

Edgar is an engineer by formation in construction and urban planning. After a year of professional practice, he entered the master’s in environmental sciences and Management from ULB, during which he completed an exchange at the University of Technology of Troyes, France. During this master's degree, he developed an appetite for research which led him to the completion of a doctoral thesis in Environmental Sciences and Management at IGEAT. Postdoc researcher on several research projects, Edgar also carries out expertise and consultancy assignments for various organizations.



Description

Edgar is an engineer by formation in construction and urban planning. After a year of professional practice, he entered the master’s in environmental sciences and Management from ULB, during which he completed an exchange at the University of Technology of Troyes, France. During this master's degree, he developed an appetite for research which led him to the completion of a doctoral thesis in Environmental Sciences and Management at IGEAT. During this doctoral degree, he completed a four-term scientific stay at the University of Aalborg, Denmark. Postdoc researcher on several research projects, Edgar also carries out expertise and consultancy assignments for various organizations. In addition, he is also active in the supervision and evaluation of end-of-study dissertations and co-manages the lifecycle analysis platform (software and databases).

Fields of activities

Edgar is interested in the relationships between anthropogenic activities and their impact on the environment. It focuses on the modelling of socioeconomic systems and the quantification of their environmental impacts from a life cycle perspective. The final objective being to identify the hotspots, provide decision support elements in order to put in place adequate strategies and actions to reduce the impacts of human activities on the environment.

Thus, Edgar specializes in quantitative sustainability assessment tools including systems approaches that capture global supply / production chains and integrate life cycle thinking such as life cycle analysis (LCA), input-output analysis (IO), material flow analysis, etc. Using these approaches, it examines the environmental footprint and impacts of products, but also of regions and countries, including impacts arising from international trade. He has also applied such approaches in several fields such as waste management, circular economy, microalgae, international trade, etc. Edgar actively contributes to methodological developments in the field by building and improving LCA and IO databases as well as developing novel ways of modelling socioeconomic systems, for example in the context of the circular economy.
 
Research projects
  • BRUCETRA (BRUssels Circular Economy TRAnsition)

The aim of the project is to identify the potential in the circular economy of the different solid and non-hazardous waste streams collected in the Brussels-Capital Region; and to analyze the environmental impacts of the resulting circular economy strategies in order to propose circular and environmentally viable waste management measures. It is carried out in collaboration with KU Leuven (Brussels campus), with Bruxelles Propreté and Bruxelles Environnement as mentors.
2016-2020. Funding: Innoviris (2015-PRFB-3a).

  • ALGOTECH

This project is dedicated to the study of the microalgae system. It brings together a consortium of organizations made up of ULB, UMons, Materia Nova and UCLouvain. The general objective is to study and develop the different ways of cultivation / production and valuation of microalgae in a circular economy context and to analyze the environmental impacts of the entire sector and of these different ways.2016-2021. Funding : FEDER
 
  • Towards a Climate-Friendly Trade

This project investigates to which extent curtailing pointless trade in Belgium could reduce the carbon footprint of Belgium. To do so, the project quantifies the carbon footprint embodied in the Belgian international trade and assess the different scenarios of pointless trade.
2020-2021. Funding: Cabinet Saskia Bricmont, MEP.

Publications
  • Towa, E., Zeller, V., & Achten, W. M. J. (2020). Input-output models and waste management analysis: A critical review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 249, 119359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119359
  • Towa, E., Zeller, V., Merciai, S., Schmidt, J., & Achten, W. M. J. (2020). Toward the development of subnational hybrid input–output tables in a multiregional framework. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13085
  • Towa, E., Zeller, V., Merciai, S., & Achten, W. M. J. (2020). Regional waste footprint and waste treatment analysis. (Accepted and resubmitted to Waste Management).
  • Towa, E., Zeller, V., & Achten, W. M. J. (2020). Circular economy scenario modelling using a multiregional hybrid input-output model: A case study for Belgium and its regions. (In Submission).
  • Towa, E., Zeller, V., & Achten, W. M. J. (2020). Assessing the circularity of regions: Stakes of trade of waste for treatment. (In Press in the Journal of Industrial Ecology). http://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13106
  • Osei-Owusu, K. A., Towa E., Pettersen, B. J., Thomsen, M. (2020). Exploring the pathways towards the mitigation of the environmental impacts of food consumption. (In Submission).
  • Papangelou, A., Towa, E., Achten, W. M. J., Mathijs, E. (2020). A resource-based phosphorus footprint for urban diets. (In Submission).
  • Vingwe, E., Towa, E., & Remmen, A. (2020). Danish Plastic Mass Flows Analysis. Sustainability, 12(22), 9639. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229639
  • Zeller, V, Towa, E., Degrez, M., and W. M. J. Achten. “Urban Waste Flows and Their Potential for a Circular Economy Model at City-Region Level.” Waste Management 83 (January 1, 2019): 83–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2018.10.034
  • Zeller, V, Towa, E., Degrez, M., and W. M. J. Achten “Integration of Waste Supply and Use Data into Regional Footprints: Case Study on the Generation and Use of Waste from Consumption and Production Activities in Brussels.” Procedia CIRP, 25th CIRP Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) Conference, 30 April – 2 May 2018, Copenhagen, Denmark, 69 (January 1, 2018): 100–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2017.11.116.
  • Zeller, V., Lavigne, C., D’Ans, P., Towa, E., & Achten, W. M. J. (2020). Assessing the environmental performance for more local and more circular biowaste management options at city-region level. Science of The Total Environment, 745, 140690. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140690
  • Zeller, V., Towa, E., Degrez, M., & Achten, W. M. J. (2019). Urban waste flows and their potential for a circular economy model at city-region level. Waste Management, 83, 83–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2018.10.034
  • Zeller, V., Towa, E., Degrez, M., & Achten, W. M. J. (2018). Integration of Waste Supply and Use Data into Regional Footprints: Case Study on the Generation and Use of Waste from Consumption and Production Activities in Brussels. Procedia CIRP, 69, 100–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2017.11.116
Mail : edgar.battand.towa.kouokam@ulb.be
Tél : +32 (0)2 650 66 94
Faculté des Sciences
Campus du Solbosch - CP 130/03
Avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 50 1050 Bruxelles
Updated on May 30, 2023