Juan Antonio began as a Postdoctoral researcher in the Industrial Ecology Department at CML in September 2025.

More information about Juan Munizaga-Plaza

Professional experience

Juan Antonio is a postdoctoral researcher on the European FutuRaM (Future Availability of Secondary Raw Materials) project at the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) at Leiden University in the Netherlands. The FutuRaM project, funded by Horizon Europe, focuses on analysing the availability and recoverability of secondary raw materials — especially critical ones — in the EU up to 2050.

Previously, Juan Antonio completed a postdoctoral position on the same FutuRaM project at the University of Munich (LMU) in Germany, where he applied material flow analysis methodologies and the United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC) to evaluate the different routes for the use and disposal of sewage sludge, as well as the recovery of phosphorus from its ashes at the regional (Bavaria), national (Germany) and European (EU) levels.

He holds a degree in civil engineering from the Universidad Católica del Norte (Chile) and a master's and PhD in environmental engineering from the University of Cantabria (Spain). He has over 9 years of professional experience in university teaching, research, and development of technological and social projects focused on sustainability, the circular economy, and smart waste management.

As an assistant professor at the UCN, he taught courses related to unit operations, waste management, environmental engineering and entrepreneurship. He has supervised theses and applied research projects, and actively participated in the training of students and professionals committed to environmental causes.

He was the principal investigator responsible for project IT20I0084 (FONDEF, ANID - Government of Chile), which developed a technological platform to optimise waste management in public hospitals in Chile, integrating innovation, public health and sustainability. This initiative involved a team of researchers from three universities and two pilot hospitals.

In the field of entrepreneurship, he founded Garbometer, a start-up that proposes digital solutions to optimise waste management in hospitals. He is also the founder of Community Lab, a citizen science and social innovation initiative that promotes sustainable neighbourhoods and ecological restoration. He has participated in entrepreneurship education and innovation incubation programmes at LMU, Babson College (USA), Luksic Scholars, Wadhwani Foundation and CISE (Spain).

His work combines strategic thinking, systemic vision and a collaborative approach to address complex environmental challenges, contributing to the development of sustainable solutions with local and global impact.

Research topic

His research has focused on the evaluation and optimisation of waste management systems, with a particular emphasis on waste characterisation, waste prevention and minimisation, and the recovery and recycling of materials. Currently, in his research, he is interested in investigating the amount of phosphorus available in sewage sludge utilisation and disposal routes in the EU, Germany, and Bavaria; the consequences of current regulations regarding phosphorus recovery; and how the UNFC methodology proposed can help stakeholders improve their decision-making. He is also studying the LCA application to the phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge ashes.