Eeuwige Trouw and Hup naar de Hub! win the National Hackathon Circular Economy 2026
Utrecht, 6 February 2026 – After an intensive and inspiring week, the winners of the National Hackathon Circular Economy 2026 have been announced. Out of 11 finalist teams, two concepts stood out during the Grande Finale in Utrecht: Hup naar de Hub! (HAN University of Applied Sciences) won the award for Best Idea, while Eeuwige Trouw (Gilde College) was selected as Best Research Concept.
Both teams impressed the juries with their innovative approaches to one of today’s most pressing challenges: how to make events fully zero waste.
One challenge, two juries, double impact
During this year’s Hackathon, over 650 students from 12 vocational, applied sciences and research universities across the Netherlands worked on a real-life challenge submitted by PreZero Nederland, specialist in waste management and circular solutions.
From single-use packaging to leftover materials that often end up as residual waste: festivals, sports events and conferences still generate large amounts of waste. PreZero challenged students to think beyond the bin and develop solutions that prevent waste before it is created, encourage behavioural change, and make circular systems the norm rather than the exception.
For the first time, the Hackathon featured two juries:
- an expert jury, assessing innovation, feasibility, impact and storytelling;
- and a research jury, composed of members of the Research Platform Circular Economy, focusing on research potential and applicability in education and further study.
Hup naar de Hub! Foto: Samuel Wagner
Winner Best Idea: Hup naar the Hub! (HAN University of Applied Sciences)
The expert jury selected Hup naar the Hub! as the best idea for its strong systemic approach to circular camping at festivals.
The concept introduces a circular camping system based on deposits and reuse. Festival visitors pay a deposit for their campsite and rented camping equipment. When leaving the campsite, materials are returned via two central hubs:
- Hub 1 is for undamaged items that can be reused directly - visitors receive their full deposit back.
- Hub 2 is for items that are damaged or need repair — visitors receive a partial deposit, while the materials enter a repair or refurbishment process.
Items that can no longer be reused are upcycled, ensuring materials stay in the loop as long as possible.
According to the jury, the strength of the concept lies in rewarding positive behaviour, embedding repair services, and paying close attention to “the small details that make a system work in practice.”
The winning idea will be further developed together with PreZero Nederland.
Winner Best Research Concept: Eeuwige Trouw (Gilde College)
The best research concept award went to Eeuwige Trouw, a behaviour-focused intervention aimed at improving waste separation at sports events, developed with PSV and PreZero in mind.
The concept plays on the well-known PSV motto “Eeuwige Trouw” - not only as loyalty to the club, but also as long-term commitment to materials and resources. By involving players and trainers as role models, visualising waste separation behaviour through screens on bins, and adding a competitive element between clubs, waste behaviour becomes visible, social and motivating.
If waste separation scores exceed a certain threshold, the financial benefits are allocated to youth teams, turning waste separation into a shared responsibility and a positive incentive. If this threshold is not exceeded - financial benefits will go to the opponent.
The research jury praised the team for placing ownership and behavioural insight at the heart of the concept, and for designing an idea that can evolve through real-life application. The concept will be further explored within education and research through the Research Platform Circular Economy.
Eeuwige Trouw. Foto: Samuel Wagner
Looking ahead: the 2027 challenge
During the Grande Finale, Elke de Roos (FWS) presented the challenge for the 2027 edition of the National Hackathon Circular Economy. Next year’s case holders, FWS and Verpact, invite students to work on the question:
“How can we turn used beverage packaging into valuable products again?”
The focus will be on used beverage packaging outside the deposit-return system, exploring new circular value chains and applications. We are already looking. forward to this challenge, and hope to see as many inspiring ideas as this years' edition!
Thank you and see you next year!
The National Hackathon Circular Economy 2026 once again showed the power of collaboration between students, educators, researchers, policymakers and industry partners.
A big thank you to all participating students, coaches, speakers, juries and partner organisations for their energy, creativity and commitment throughout the week. We look forward to building on these ideas and to welcoming a new generation of circular thinkers in the next edition.
See you at the National Hackathon Circular Economy 2027! 🌱
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