Presentation for the King and the Queen of the Netherlands

It was a great honor to present the Waste to Wealth program and our two projects for His and Her Royal Highnesses the King and the Queen of the Netherlands, as well as ministers from both countries as well as other high, placed members of the Indian and Dutch Government, during the Trademission Delhi, India. The presentation earmarked the signing of first contracts with Muzaffarnagar and Ghaziabad municipality, in the presence of the State Government of Uttar Pradesh. Thank you all for helping us to achieve this especially the Uttar Pradesh Government and the Netherlands Embassy in Delhi India. Thank you also, consortium members, NL Works, NWP, Team GC, Nijhuis Industries, Ingenieursbureau Land for enabling us to develop our projects that aim to clean the Hindon river basin and set the example for the entire Ganga basin.

First measurements for Rijkswaterstaat the Twente Canal AquaVector

Recently AquaVector, the new generation groundwater sensor for measuring flow rate and flow direction, has carried out its first measurements for Rijkswaterstaat. The measurements took place along the Twente Canal. During dredging works in 2010, a part of the impermeable layer on the bottom of the canal was removed. As a result, water leaks away from the canal towards the surrounding. To determine the extent of the leakage, 7 AquaVector sensors were employed during a test. This test consisted of the temporary raising of the water level in the canal with 35 cm with respect to the target level, followed by the temporary lowering of the water level by 20 cm with respect to the target level. Baseline measurements were carried out prior to the test to capture how the groundwater flow around the canal responds to fluctuating water levels. The measurements will continue for some time and in the meantime we will analyze the data and further map the geohydrological situation.

AquaVector is an initiative of Ad van der Horst en Therus Gieling.

How to create value out of sand surplus from the Brahmaputra river

Last 6 months Martijn Otte and David van de Glind, civil engineering students at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, worked at GC on their thesis for a GC project in India. Their research focussed on how to create value out of sand surplus from the Brahmaputra river and use it for riverbank protection. They analysed the composition of the mixture, the production process and the optimal measurements of the bricks. Besides that they tested the bricks on erosion. The results were positive and are useful for GC projects in India and Vietnam. Martijn and David, we want to thank you both for the great results and wish you all the best in your further career. We also want to thank Hoffmann group for their support during the internship.  

Economic Mission Prime Minister Mark Rutte

Last week GCI was in Vietnam, as a member of the Economic Mission, part of the official visit by Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. The mission was successful for GCI in Hanoi, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City. Success that could only be achieved with excellent help of our partners: Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Netherlands Water Partnership, T&T Group, Upp!, Nijhuis, Royal IHC and AB Consult. We signed several MoUs, made new friends. Full steam ahead!

Fruitful visit to Malaysia!

GC has been in contact with Malaysia since 2013. We have paid regular visits to this marvelous country to strategize and discuss business approaches based on the triple helix model. We will keep on having these conversations in order to learn how the world is shifting gears. We admire their visionary approach for their national energy sector and together we discussed how this exact approach can be applied to other sectors of the country. Their openness, fast thinking mindset and willingness to cooperate is inspiring. In the weeks to come we will focus on a contract for strategic concept developments and options for public private partnerships. Malaysia is the place where GC’s puzzle-pieces fall into place.

Civil engineering students

In the following months Martijn Otte and David van de Glind will be part of GC’s team. Both Martijn and David are civil engineering students at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences. They will be working on their thesis for a project in India. During the next 6 months the students will dedicate their time to finding constructive solutions for the project. We wish Martijn and David the best of luck with their thesis!

Waste to Wealth update India

With the arrival of 2019 our Waste to Wealth projects are off to a flying start as important steps have been made in order for Nijhuis Industries and GC to cleanse the Hindon River. During our recent visit to the Hindon region we were succesful in tackling the complex challenge of finding land that is large enough for our Waste to Wealth facilities.

The complexity of this issue is linked to the fact that the already densely populated Hindon region continues to grow and urbanize at an incredible pace. We are receiving full support from local Indian governments in Ghaziabad and Muzaffarnagar as well as the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This is an important step within the process as it enables us to make rapid progress in establishing the first bankable Waste to Wealth projects.

Delegation of the Dutch Embassy

On Wednesday, the 17th of October, a delegation of the Dutch Embassy got acquainted with The Special Treat project. The Dutch Embassy delegation, led by the Deputy Head of Mission, was present at our presentation and joined us during the field visit.

We were also honoured by the Municipality Chief Executive of the Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipal Assembly and his staff for accompanying us during the visits to the project locations: Sanitation Blocks in the Nsawam Prison, Public Sanitation Block at the Nsawam market and the Waste Treatment site.

We are thankful that we had the possibility of sharing our ideas and showing the progress made.

Circular Economy Conference Vietnam

Together with the Dutch Embassy in Hanoi, NWP, the Ministery of Infrastructure and Trade, Natec and our consortium (NijhuisIndustries, Solveigh and GC International) a very well attended conference was organized about the impact of the Circular Economy developing integrated and DBFOM solutions to solve some of the most demanding challenges by adopting our unique Waste to Wealth approach to secure Vietnam resilient and circular water, safe and secure food, renewablee energy by turning Waste to Wealth.