The idea of Fytolutions was initiated in the aftermath of the PFAS case in Zwijndrecht (Belgium). Frederik Verstraete (CEO C-Biotech) teamed up with Sofie Thijs (UHasselt) and grew industrial hemp on different agricultural plots, showing that several PFAS components were removed from the soil and end up in specific parts of the plant. Based on this and the scale of the PFAS problems globally, this lead to further R&D and this partnership with DEME to use phytoremediation as another tool for cleaning up soils.
