• The Brussels water supply company Aquiris is looking for a contractor to commercialise its pioneering work in extracting biodegradable plastic from waste water. The company has been carrying out the work – the first such project in the world – in a little-publicised test phase and is now ready to move to the next level. The plastic is created from polymers excreted by bacteria fed on certain nutrients filtered out of the waste water during purification. The plastic can then be used in a number of different applications, such as packaging.

• Belgacom internet clients will soon be given the opportunity to open up part of their own wireless network connection to the public, in return for which they will be able to connect to other private data networks when away from home without paying extra connection charges. The move comes after the company’s takeover earlier this year of the Spanish network Fon. Each client’s signal will be split into a private and a public portion, available for use by anyone who signs up to share their own network. Belgacom assures its clients their own data will be perfectly safe, but it will be possible to opt out of the sharing scheme. Belgacom hopes to increase the number of open hotspots to half a million.