About us

Bastian has worked on decentralised water and wastewater treatment for over two decades. He coordinated the VUNA Project in South Africa and Switzerland. Before that, he led the STUN Project in Nepal. Bastian graduated as an environmental engineer from EPFL and is passionate about practical work. He has been the head of Vuna GmbH since 2016.

Nadège enjoys working between the lab and construction sites. As an environmental engineer from ETHZ, she participated in the Autarky Toilet Project and later specialised in small-scale wastewater treatment technologies in India. At Vuna, she developed the mobile urine treatment unit: the UrinExpress. She now manages various urine treatment projects as well as the industrialisation of the VunaNexus technology.

Kai is the scientific expert with sound knowledge on wastewater streams and process technology. He has been working on urine treatment for two decades, since pioneering the topic at Eawag as his PhD research project. For several years, he also deepened his research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Kai is the Scientific Advisor of Vuna GmbH.

Lukas worked for Eawag on international projects for a long time, particularly in the area of planning decentralised solutions for urban sanitation. As an environmental engineer and co-author of the Compendium of Sanitation Systems and Technologies, he is well versed in the world of possibilities in the wastewater sector. At Vuna, Lukas plans and oversees all types of alternative toilet and water treatment systems.

Basile holds an MSc in environmental engineering from EPFL. During his master's thesis and his community service at Sandec (Eawag), he gained initial experience in the field of decentralized water treatment and worked for several months on a project in Nepal. At Vuna, he now plans and builds alternative wastewater systems.

Chiara is interested in closing material cycles and developing wastewater systems that minimize environmental impact and enable the reuse of greywater. At Vuna, she designs water treatment systems. She holds an MSc in environmental engineering with a specialization in environmental technology from ETH Zurich.

Tabea completed her MSc in environment and natural resources at the ZHAW and was able to gain hands-on experience with constructed wetlands and greywater reuse in an urban setting through her master’s thesis.
Efficient resource management is close to her heart, including closing water and nutrient cycles. At Vuna, Tabea plans alternative water treatment systems and helps with logistics.

Helena enjoys working on projects that close water cycles, both practically and in terms of planning. She completed her bachelor's degree in environmental engineering at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW). She gained experience during her studies through her bachelor's thesis on wastewater treatment with planted biofilters and decentralized water treatment. Previously, she worked on rainwater harvesting from green roofs. At Vuna, she supports both the administration and various projects.

With a diploma in Business Innovation and as a certified multimedia designer, Luzius controls the interface between the economic development of Vuna GmbH, customer relations, and marketing. He works as a consultant in strategy and operations.

With a PhD in international relations, Pavel Varbanets at Vuna is involved in the design and development of the company's website and online shop, the integration of third-party IT services, the promotion of goods and services on the Internet, Internet advertising and other IT-related projects.