To start off Day 6, we began by saying goodbye to the beautiful city of Amsterdam! We packed our bags, checked out of the hotel, and headed to Nouryon, the world’s leading supplier of organic peroxides, curing agents, reactor addicted and metal alkyls. At Nouryon we were greeted with a warm welcome and lunch! We then learned the history of the company, their sustainability practices, and we even got to tour some of their labs! For example, we toured the biodegradable lab and the toxicity lab. Nouryon incorporates sustainability deeply into its business practices, with a particular emphasis on circular economic principles. This means that they focus on keeping materials in use for as long as possible, rather than discarding them after one use. Although they primarily focus on mechanical recycling, they have experimented with chemical recycling as well. 

After our insightful tour of Nouryon, we hopped back on the bus and headed to Rotterdam! Thankfully Nouryon gave us a snack bag for the long 2.5-hour long journey. When we arrived, we checked into the hotel, unloaded bags and ate dinner in the hostel. A group of us decided to ordered pizza, and then we walked over to Albert Heijn’s for dessert! Albert Heijn’s has become our go-to for snacks and dessert!

One thing that really stood out to me during our time traveling is how prominent sustainable energy is in the Netherlands. During our journey we passed many sustainable sources of energy. I saw a large fields of solar panels, as well as numerous wind turbines. I was shocked at the number of solar panels in just one area- my photo could not even capture them all! Both solar panels and wind turbines generate electricity without releasing fossil fuels and greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, thus making them an essential tool in the push to combat climate change.