Dr Janaína A. JUNKES (Brazil)

Janaína’s academic approach focuses on waste treatment, the reuse of waste material, conserving resources, particularly raw materials, and offers a solution to the problem of waste disposal. Together with her team, she found a way to reuse mineral waste from industrial processes, such as mollusc shell, sugarcane bagasse ash within the ceramic industry.

PhD in Materials Science and Engineering

Current position: Professor and Researcher at Centro Universitário Tiradentes, Brazil

Research focus: reuse of waste as an alternative raw material to ceramic products

After receiving the Green Talents award Janaína completed three postdoctoral research programmes in Germany and Brazil and was hired as a professor by a private university in her home country. She also conducts engineering classes for undergraduate and graduate students and is the head of the Laboratory of Environmental Analysis (LANA) at her university.

2019 Circular Economy Award
2011 Postdoctoral Scholarship at Friedrich Alexander University, Erlangen-Nürnberg, from the Brazilian government
2007 Patent for Production of amorphous silica from rice husks

CV as submitted for the Green Talents award (2010):

Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil

Research focus: waste management – reuse of mineral waste

Ms Junkes’ PhD work is related to waste treatment, a topic that has figured prominently since her undergraduate studies. Her current work focuses on the reuse of mineral wastes from industrial processes such as sludge produced during the crushing of gneiss rock. Her research team has managed to manufacture ceramic tiles from such ceramic waste materials. Reusing waste material in this way conserves resources, specifically raw materials, while also providing a solution to the problem of waste disposal. Ms Junkes impressed the jury with her very active research work and especially the numerous scientific publications she has already authored on the subject. The jury was equally intrigued by her research on the use of sludge from the process of filtration/ clarification of potable water as raw materials in the ceramic industry.

Ms Junkes says she wanted to participate in the Green Talents Competition because “German universities offer a number of waste management courses and training for professions in the waste disposal sector.” She hopes to learn more about this subject from the scientists that she will meet during her visit to Germany.