Practitioners Interview Series | Tom Kloosterman

Tom Kloosterman studied International Development Studies in Wageningen. He became interested in sustainability during this time as much of his fellow students had an interest in sustainability which triggered his interest. After visiting a local NGO in Gulu, Uganda he became increasingly interested in entrepreneurship as he met many entrepreneurial people during that time. After landing his first job at a foundation supporting entrepreneurs with a refugee background, he came across the Circular Challenge from BlueCity. During this challenge, which was around dredge & finding a more useful use for it, he met his two co-founders Abbe & Bart. They founded Blauwe Bagger back in 2022.

Blauwe Bagger is a start-up that believes in a sustainable and circular future for the Dutch dredging industry. The company is convinced that upcycling dredged material will play a major role in this. Together with partners such as BlueCity, the Province of South Holland, the Municipality of Rotterdam, various water authorities and the TBI Klimaattrein, Blauwe Bagger are looking for the right applications and overcoming challenges in implementing dredged material as a raw material.