Interview | Walter van Hulst
The attention for biobased materials is growing, especially with a view to sustainability and circularity. Leonne Cuppen, among others co-curator of MaterialDistrict, believes that we should also look more closely at the effects of substances and materials on our own health. She therefore advocates a more holistic approach and regenerative design: creating a healthy and liveable environment, in which people become part of the earth’s ecosystems.
Nesse is the name of the cultural breeding ground in a former Philips factory in Terneuzen. With workspaces, residencies, exhibitions and other activities. Leonne Cuppen advised and helped the municipality of Terneuzen to get this centre off the ground. From a supervisory role, she now initiates and supervises sub-projects, particularly aimed at connecting designers and companies. Designer Fides Lapidaire will be working as an artist in residence in Nesse for a year to bring residents, governments, experts, companies and other relevant parties on both sides of the border (in Zeeland, East and West Flanders) together. The idea is not to polarise, but to deliberate together about how to tackle the PFAS problem and come up with creative solutions. Artist and designer Marte Mei will also be focusing on PFAS in Nesse for a year, in particular on flax as a crop that can remove these chemical compounds from the soil.
We have made a mess
“PFAS pollution is a major issue in and around the Westerschelde,” Cuppen has experienced. “It is in the water and in the soil throughout the whole region. The Drowned Land of Saeftinghe is a beautiful nature reserve on the coast, on the border between the Netherlands and Belgium. But restrictions have recently been imposed on the sale and consumption of the meat from the cattle that graze there – because of the PFAS pollution. The consultancy work here once again brought me face to face with the facts: we as humanity have made a mess of things.” High time to do things differently and bring ourselves and our way of life back into balance with nature and the earth, Cuppen states resolutely. “It is not just about sustainability and protecting the environment, it is also about our own health.” PFAS (poly-perfluoroalkyl substances) is actually a collective name for a group of now several thousand chemical compounds that are not produced by nature itself, but by us humans. Known from the non-stick coating Teflon, but PFAS is also found in many other products, from baking paper to ski wax, from outdoor sports and rainwear including boots to pizza boxes, and from cosmetics to carpets and carpet cleaner. Through the use of all these products, but especially through discharges and other emissions from the chemical industry, these PFAS compounds end up in the water and in the air. A concentration of this industry can be found around the Westerschelde and especially in Terneuzen, and across the border near Antwerp with 3M as the best-known culprit. Once in the environment, these substances hardly break down, hence the nickname forever chemicals. Via water and food cycles, they then also end up in the human body, where they accumulate.
Although we do not yet know everything about the consequences of those many PFAS compounds in our bodies, it has now been scientifically established that a number of them can be very harmful to your immune system, your liver and your thyroid gland. And they are possibly carcinogenic. They can also lead to high blood pressure and increased cholesterol levels. Or cause problems with reproduction, pregnancy and the development of the unborn child, resulting in a lower birth weight, among other things. “Fortunately, a number of proven unhealthy PFAS compounds have now been banned, and emissions and discharges from companies are being increasingly restricted. But yes, we are still stuck with that legacy from the past,” says Cuppen.
Parkinson’s disease
According to Cuppen, we are still far from realising the full extent of the health risks of all kinds of substances and materials. “We talk a lot and often about CO2 and hear almost daily that nitrogen is ruining nature and putting biodiversity under pressure. But negative stories about substances and materials keep appearing in the news as separate incidents. Often according to the same recipe. A lot of fuss, people who are shocked, politicians who shout that this is not possible, companies that deny or trivialise.” Cuppen has a whole list of recent examples ready. From Albert Heijn that removes a batch of blackcurrants from the shelves to chewing bones that lead to serious neurological abnormalities in dogs. From the EU banning the harmful substance bisphenol A (including in food containers, lunch boxes, reusable plastic bottles and coffee cups) to the fact that people living near bulb fields are more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease than people who live further away – but the connection cannot yet be proven exactly and that is why politicians are not yet putting an end to suspicious pesticides. And to stay with PFAS: the Dutch Advertising Code Commission recently rapped Tefal on the knuckles because the company misleads consumers by claiming that its pans (with PFAS) are ‘100% safe’ and ‘environmentally friendly’. “Not to mention microplastics. It has also been established that they are present in increased quantities in many people’s bodies, even in the brain, but we still have no idea what the health risks and effects are.”
Holistic approach
The discussions are usually about the standards and limit values, rarely about the question of whether we should actually seek out those limits at all. “It is high time for a more holistic approach, a different way of looking at all the substances and materials in the products we use, in our living environment and even in our food and drinks,” says Cuppen. For her it is crystal clear: we must look for the solution in regenerative design. “Describe it as working on a healthy and liveable environment, in which people become part of the earth’s ecosystems. That goes a step further than sustainability and devising circular products and systems.”
The use and application of biobased materials is a given for Cuppen. “Attention for biobased materials is growing, but especially with a view to sustainability and circularity. As far as I am concerned, we should also add the aspect of our own health to that from now on.” Cuppen is hopeful and sees a growing attention for regenerative design, especially among young designers. “They question the known and the existing, are not afraid to take new paths, use unconventional methods, often get hands-on. That leads to innovation. But not only that. An increasing number of these young talents see it as a moral and ethical obligation to work as designers for a better future for people and planet.” She takes a thick book from the shelf, published at the end of 2024 by the platform ‘She is Coool’, with portfolios of no fewer than 165 female designers and collaborations that are all at the forefront. “I don’t mean to say that it is precisely or only female designers who focus on that, I mention this as an example of the numbers and the size of that movement. You also see it at the exhibitions of graduates of art and design courses, such as the Graduation Show of the Design Academy Eindhoven. And recently we had a surprising presentation at Nieuw Zwanenburg by thirty students from the latter course who had done a project on regenerative agriculture.
Forging chains
Cuppen refers to the 17th-century farm and creative workshop just outside Eindhoven in Oirschot, with 10 hectares of land, of which she is one of the initiators and advisors. The farm, now operational for a year, is actually a research laboratory to grow and develop crops such as hemp, sun crown and elephant grass for use as bio-based materials in soil, road and hydraulic engineering. Designers and entrepreneurs, but also two farmers and people from education and (semi) government – professionals from all kinds of disciplines and with different backgrounds work together there. Numerous parties, large and small, are involved in the project, including Rijkswaterstaat and the independent non-profit organization Building Balance. The latter implements the National Approach to Biobased Construction (NABB), together with various ministries and provinces and focuses on starting, stimulating and supporting chains. With the slogan: from land to building. Cuppen: “Forging chains is super important for scaling up and commercializing bio-based materials. Buiding Balance also advocates for incentive measures and putting restrictive regulations on the agenda.”
Green remediation
Back to Nesse in Terneuzen, where artist and designer Marte Mei focuses on flax, specifically on the way in which this crop can absorb PFAS from the soil. This has been done before, using plants to break down, absorb or fix pollution in the soil. This is called green remediation or phytoremediation. Research is even being done into whether you could recover a material in this way. “It can also be done with nickel pollution, for example. Isn’t it wonderful,” says Cuppen. “That nature can help us clean up the mess that we as humans have made. This shows how we should ultimately fit into the ecosystems of Mother Earth. Not only to keep her healthy, but also for our own well-being.”
Leonne Cuppen works as a curator and consultant in the creative as well as the commercial industries. She is active in many boards, jury’s and advise committees.
This interview by Walter van Hulst previously appeared in the exhibition catalogue of MaterialDistrict Utrecht 2025.