Van Gerrevink

Recycle Company

Van Gerrevink is a family business with a rich history. In 1879, Reinier van Gerrevink started collecting skins, bones and lumps in Apeldoorn. Meanwhile, Marc van Gerrevink is the 5th generation owner and the collected materials have changed slightly. The company specializes in the collection and processing of waste streams such as paper, metal, wood, plastic, and electronic waste into high-quality raw materials. They do this for a variety of companies, organizations and government agencies. 31 employees work at Van Gerrevink, mainly from Apeldoorn and the surrounding area.

Every year, Van Gerrevink processes around 100,000 tonnes of waste, of which 80,000 tonnes of paper. An interesting fact: all old paper from the municipality of Apeldoorn goes to Van Gerrevink and then to a paper company in the region. Local-oriented wherever it can, but Van Gerrevink is also active across national borders. For example, some of the paper goes to Asia, especially for carton boxes. 8 sea containers a week go to China via the port of Rotterdam. This way clever use is being made of empty containers.”

Creating value streams

Van Gerrevink is a family business focused on continuity. Marc van Gerrevink: “My goal is to give a beautiful company to the next generation and to be a relevant partner in the raw material chain. It is about creating value streams, that’s how we started and that is still the driving force. How can we efficiently recycle waste streams to reusable raw materials? For a number of companies in Apeldoorn, Van Gerrevink manages the total waste package with the aim of obtaining as many materials as possible.

Export and import

To Van Gerrevink, both export and import are important. Export is more important for sales, but the value differs annually due to prices. In terms of added value, import ambitions are more important. For example, can we collect electronics in Africa and take out the rare metals?

Van Gerrevink is also involved in the New Day Impact Foundation, an organization for development cooperation, especially in Eastern Europe. We are busy looking at whether we can set up paper collection and sorting in Albania and Kosovo. We are starting this from a non-profit point of view: first receive environmental benefits, help the people there and then gain business profits. Our goal is to get good mono streams. If that succeeds, we can get paper from Eastern Europe over here.