Kim Ragaert is full professor at Maastricht University, holding the Chair of Circular Plastics. She obtained her PhD in polymer processing at Ghent University in 2011. A few years later, she began to develop her research in mechanical recycling of plastics via her tenure track and later tenure at the same university. She co-founded CAPTURE, wherein she chaired the Plastics to Resource pipeline up to her leaving Ghent University for her 2021 appointment at Maastricht University. At this time she had brought together a well-known and respected research team in the field of polymer science for plastics recycling, which remains her main research field today. Aspects of this include concepts of quality for recycling, the effect of contaminations on structure-property relations in plastics, design for & from recycling and interdisciplinary topics like the economics and footprint of different recycling technologies.
Kim is a strong believer in value-chain cooperation and interdisciplinary research. She was the 2020 European Plastics Recycling Ambassador.