Join the
5th ZORH Conference
Join the 5th ZORH Conference
THE CONFERENCE OF SCIENTISTS, SPECIALISTS AND STUDENTS
9th to 11th April 2025
Program of 5th ZORH Conference
Posters
Scientific program committee:
Organizing program committee:
Program of 5th ZORH Conference
Posters
Scientific program committee:
Organizing program committee:
Plenary lecturers announcement
Challenges in hydrometallurgical processing of materials and opportunities for circularity
The transformation towards climate neutrality requires certain key energy metals, which are essential for renewable energy production and storage and electrified mobility. To support this industrial transformation developing sustainable processes for materials recycling and resource recovery is of key importance. This talk will highlight challenges in hydrometallurgical processing of materials and opportunities for circularity.
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Stockholm, Sweden
Mercury in Adriatic seawater, sediments, and biota: origin, transformations, and trends
Mercury contamination in the Adriatic Sea is a critical environmental concern due to its persistence, toxicity, and ability to bioaccumulate in marine ecosystems. This presentation underscores the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in unravelling mercury's biogeochemical pathways and its ecological impacts. By synthesizing established knowledge, this lecture will focus on the origins and trends of mercury in the Adriatic and Mediterranean regions.
Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenia
Microplastics - a growing environmental problem and a threat to public health: findings from the last twenty years of research
Within a few decades, plastics have become the backbone of Anthropocene activities, with a 240-fold increase in production. Their versatility and low cost have brought many societal and technical benefits in practice, but also critical negative externalities during and after their use, in particular through macroplastic waste, microplastics and nanoplastics. This presentation provides a comprehensive overview of the last twenty years of microplastics (MP) research, including the sources, transportation, distribution and environmental concentrations of MPs, ecological impacts and risks, understanding the risks of MPs to human health, methodological advances, human choices and actions as causes and solutions to MPs pollution.
Regional Veterinary Institute Split, Croatia
Invited lecturers announcement
Monitoring leachate contamination in municipal solid waste landfills by addressing organic pollutants and microplastics for sustainable waste management and environmental protection.
In recent decades, the global escalation in plastic production and mismanagement of solid waste have resulted in a marked accumulation of plastic residues in municipal landfills. Over time, these plastics degrade into microplastics and nanoplastics, often serving as vectors for persistent organic pollutants. These pollutants can leach into groundwater, disperse into the surrounding soil, and become airborne, thereby posing multifaceted risks to environmental and public health. The lecture will stress the urgent necessity for comprehensive environmental research aimed at understanding these dynamics and inform the development of proactive waste management practices.
University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Serbia
Drying of food plant waste and by-products: application in functional food development
Agro-food industries generate significant quantity of food plant waste and by-products still rich in various valuable compounds with potential health benefits. An imperative for agro-food industry is utilizing food plant waste and by-products in innovative and functional food production simultaneously minimize waste and its environmental impact and contribute to the circular economy. This study explores the potential of drying techniques to preserve valuable compounds from food waste and by-products (avocado and pumpkin peel) and their subsequent application in functional food development. The research aims to address the dual challenges of reducing food waste and meeting the growing consumer demand for healthier food options.
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, Croatia
Onion peel as a part of active packaging
The development of functional packaging using agrifood residues is becoming increasingly important, as the ongoing PRIMA project - Valorizing Agrifood Residues for Bio-based Packaging Solutions (AgriBioPack) confirms. The project aims to develop bio-based active packaging that modulates the microbiome of Mediterranean products, extends their shelf life and reduces food waste. One of the project's objectives is to develop biodegradable packaging material with polylactic acid filled with different fractions of ground onion peel and onion peel extracts to evaluate their antioxidant and antimicrobial efficacy on Mediterranean foods (meat, fish, fruit). The processing of polylactic acid is directed towards extrusion and hot pressing, i.e. heat treatment of the material to prepare different polymer films. Various characterization techniques were used to evaluate the development of packaging solutions, having barrier properties in mind while ensuring consumer safety and satisfaction.
University of Split, Faculty of Chemistry and Technology, Croatia
Conference of scientists, professionals and students on the topic of environmental protection in the Republic of Croatia (5th ZORH conference) is a project organized by students of the Faculty of Chemical Technology in Split together with the Faculty of Materials, Metallurgy and Recycling in Košice, Faculty of Chemistry of University of Gdansk, Student section of Chemical Engineeres and Technologists of Split, and Faculty of Maritime Studies in Kotor.
The right to participate is available to: students of undergraduate and graduate studies in the fields of technical, natural and social sciences; scientists and experts who are actively involved in scientific work in the fields of ecology, social sciences and environmental protection; employees from related industries that can use their experience to give insight about current problems regarding disposal of waste and its generation and/or water and air pollution.
Our goal is to connect the academic community with the business sector in order to discuss key problems and to further encourage the public to be more interested in the field of environmental protection.
After the realization of 4th ZORH conference, whose scope went beyond Croatia, we continue in the same direction. The preceding congress gathered over 200 participants from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Spain, France, Germany, Poland and Malta.
Questions and answers
Answers to common questions regarding the conference.
What is ZORH?
ZORH is a conference of scientists, specialists and students on the topic of environmental protection in the Republic of Croatia, organized by students of the Faculty of Chemistry and Technology in Split, with the assistance of scientists and scientific staff of the faculty.
Why should you sign up?
Sign up to gain new knowledge and ideas, discuss key problems, and learn about new technologies used in environmental protection. Registrations are open until 4th of March 2025.
How to present?
Through oral presentation, lasting 8-10 minutes, or through a poster presentation.
Co-organizer of the conference
The Faculty of Materials, Metallurgy and Recycling of Technical university at Košice
The Faculty of Materials, Metallurgy and Recycling represents education aimed at the requirements of the labor market for the following decades. Thanks to cooperation with companies from practice and excellent conditions for research, we educate successful graduates who will find employment in the labor market in various industries.
We focus on the technologies of the future today. Nanotechnologies, hydrogen technologies, smart batteries, environmental chemistry,
waste recycling or renewable resources.
It is based on the solid foundations of traditional scientific knowledge and is constantly inspired by the technologies of the future. It actively monitors current trends, advances and changes like the world around it. She also defended her leading position in the quality of education provided in the last evaluation of university faculties in which she ranked 5th out of a total of 24 faculties in the group of technically oriented faculties.
University of Montenegro, Faculty of Maritime studies in Kotor
Faculty of Maritime studies in Kotor, University of Montenegro represents a modern and contemporary educational institution that meets all standards of higher education in terms of functional capacity. The faculty has ship simulators of the latest generation and offers long distance learning through the DL platform. Since 1999, the Faculty has had a documented ISO 9001-2000 quality system, and since 2017 it has a certificate from the Croatian Ship Register, which confirms that the study programs meets the latest requirements of the STCW convention. The faculty has accredited programs of basic, master’s and doctoral studies which are aligned with the latest international trends. The mission of the Maritime Faculty in Kotor, as an educational and scientific unit, is to educate young and high-quality experts in the field of technical and social sciences (regional maritime) with teaching content, the application of modern methods of technique and education through the research process, capable of helping the development of their country through creative work. The faculty acts socially responsible through support in various social actions, such as voluntary blood donation, reforestation, helping sports associations and schools and participating in cultural events in Kotor.
University of Gdansk, Faculty of Chemistry
The main areas of research activity of the Faculty of Chemistry concern: peptide chemistry and biochemistry, chemical and environmental analytics, computational chemistry, organic and inorganic physicochemistry, materials chemistry, sugar chemistry and environmental chemistry. A significant contribution to the scientific achievements was made by research conducted by doctoral students. The Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Gdansk is one of the most dynamic academic centers conductiong research and education in the field od chemistry and eviromental protection both in Poland and abroad. Faculty employees obtain funds from national and internation science funding institutions for the implementation of their research. The achievement of the faculty is recognized by the highest scientific category A assigned to it.