Between May 29–31, 2025, representatives of the Clean&Circle Center of Competence conducted an intensive working visit to the city of Konya, Turkey, with the goal of expanding international scientific cooperation and showcasing Bulgarian scientific expertise in the fields of sustainable development, circular economy, and clean technologies.

Last week (June 30 – July 4, 2025), a scientific article was published in a Q1-ranked journal, Water Process Engineering, by a team from the Faculty of Biology at Sofia University. The study presents research on how plasma treatment of landfill leachate contaminated with PFOA significantly reduces its toxicity. PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) belongs to a group of extremely toxic pollutants known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), often referred to as “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment.

On July 4, 2025, the first operational meeting was held at the Clean & Circle Center of Competence to discuss the implementation of the scientific and business activities outlined in the new business plan under the National Research Program for Intelligent Industry (ПНИИДИТ). In the conference room of the new CC building, the leaders of the three work packages presented a schedule for the execution of the planned activities. The first and most urgent tasks related to achieving the indicators for each activity in the work packages were discussed and coordinated.

The team of the Center of Competence "Clean & Circle" at the Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry – BAS participated in the international scientific conference “Science-Industry-Society Nexus for Sustainable Region”, held from June 12–14, 2025, at Burgas State University "Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov."