Waste into Worth
Over the course of my career, I have witnessed a clear transition from a largely linear waste model to a truly circular economy.”
The opening words of Stefaan Pillen, Managing Director of
As Belgium’s circular economy accelerates, REMONDIS Belgien is combining innovation, digitalisation, and sustainability to transform waste into valuable resources and drive long-term environmental impact. We sit down with Managing Director, Stefaan Pillen, to learn more
Writer: Lily Sawyer | Project Manager: Robert Payne
REMONDIS Belgien – the Belgian subsidiary of REMONDIS, one of the world’s largest privately held recycling, water management, and environmental service companies –reflect a fundamental shift in global production and consumption.
Moving away from a traditional, wasteful model towards a restorative and regenerative economic system, this transformation has been felt across the globe.
With Belgium having positioned
Stefaan Pillen, Managing Director
itself as one of the frontrunners of the industry in Europe, its strong regulatory frameworks, high recycling rates, and increasing environmental awareness amongst both businesses and citizens set it apart.
Today, the sector is evolving faster than ever, defined by the increasing complexity of its waste streams, such as composite materials, electronic waste, and chemical residues, which require advanced treatment. Regulations, meanwhile, are being made stricter around emissions, recycling targets, and transparency, whilst digitalisation and traceability have seen continued emphasis thanks to legislation and customers
demanding full visibility – from waste generation to final processing.
“Now, the main challenge lies in balancing economic viability with sustainability ambitions,” Pillen reflects.
At the same time, this landscape is creating a major opportunity for those looking to drive sustainable innovation, champion environmental
stewardship, and advance environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives – which is particularly the case for REMONDIS Belgien.
“Companies that invest in circular solutions and innovative technologies will lead the market,” he asserts.
UPGRADING RECYCLING TECHNOLOGY
With the best available technologies on the market today, REMONDIS Belgien is convinced that it can significantly improve the recycling rate of construction and demolition (C&D) waste beyond current performance levels.
It is therefore exploring the complete renewal of one of its processing lines, with the aim of increasing both efficiency and output quality.
“By investing in more advanced sorting technologies, we can achieve a finer separation of materials such as concrete, wood, metals, and plastics,” Pillen observes.
This has a dual benefit, for both the planet and economy.
Indeed, REMONDIS Belgien’s solution enables higher material recovery rates, reduces the need for virgin raw materials, and lowers carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) emissions whilst increasing the value of recovered materials and creating more cost-efficient solutions for its customers.
“In other words, better sorting of C&D waste is not only a crucial step towards a circular economy, but also a clear win from a business perspective as it provides both sustainability and profitability,” he confirms.
LONG-LASTING END-TO-END SOLUTIONS
In Belgium, REMONDIS’s focus is on activities such as household waste collection, waste sorting, and waste service.
The sectors it serves through REMONDIS Belgien include construction and hospitality, along with public authorities.
“Our core services include collecting and processing commercial and industrial waste and recycling construction and demolition waste,” Pillen outlines.
The company’s footprint spans multiple operational sites across Belgium, with a workforce including several hundred specialist employees.
Ranging from large industrial groups to small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), private persons,
“We seek to preserve natural resources by transforming waste into valuable raw materials. We do not see waste as an endpoint, but as the beginning of a new lifecycle”
– STEFAAN PILLEN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, REMONDIS BELGIEN
and public institutions, REMONDIS Belgien’s client base is also broad.
“Our strength lies in delivering integrated, end-to-end solutions tailored to our customers’ needs with a high focus on service,” he tells us.
Personally responsible for the activities of REMONDIS in Belgium, Pillen explains how the company’s mission is clear.
“We seek to preserve natural resources by transforming waste into valuable raw materials. We do not see waste as an endpoint, but as the beginning of a new lifecycle.”
With a vision to actively contribute to a fully functioning circular economy where materials remain in use for as long as possible, REMONDIS’s 800 locations across multiple continents have enabled it to build the infrastructure needed to achieve this goal.
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“Today, we have a continued focus on resource recovery, sustainable water management, and protecting natural ecosystems,” Pillen confirms.
INTEGRATED SERVICE OFFERING
Aside from being one of the world’s largest recycling, service, and water companies, REMONDIS Belgien stands out for many reasons.
“Beyond our size and global presence, several factors set us apart,” Pillen insights.
The company’s integrated service offering – combining waste management, recycling, and water treatment – represents its strong technological expertise, backed by international know-how.
Local market understanding, meanwhile, is supplemented by REMONDIS Belgien’s deep knowledge of Belgian regulations and customer needs.
“We see ourselves not just as a service provider, but as a long-term partner to our clients. Flexibility and customisation enable us to provide tailored solutions,” he adds.
Elsewhere, the company’s deep commitment to sustainability goes beyond compliance to actively drive circularity and CO2 reduction programmes across the organisation.
REMONDIS GROUP – A TIMELINE
As a family-owned company steeped in tradition, REMONDIS has evolved over decades into a globally operating service group, with a history that outlines its successful trajectory:
• 1934 – The family business was founded by Josef Rethmann in Lünen, Germany, under the name Rethmann Entsorgung (Rethmann).
• 1977 – The range of services grows to include plastics recycling and water management with the construction of the first industrial water treatment plant in 1977.
• 1982 – First overseas branch opens in Australia, whilst the utilisation of biomass, processing of building materials, and disposal of mercury and waste electrical and electronic equipment occur later in the decade.
• 1993 – Rethmann acquires the Lippewerk plant in Germany, which is subsequently converted into a centre for industrial recycling.
• 1998 – Start of the largest nationwide public-private partnership (PPP) in Frankfurt.
• 2005 – Acquisition of RWE Umwelt AG and renaming of the group to REMONDIS. Continued expansion includes the acquisition of market-leading companies in the areas of metal recycling and industrial services – TSR Group in 2006 and XERVON in 2011 – and expansion of international activities in Australia and Poland.
• 2012 – Acquisition of EURAWASSER GmbH & Co. KG, one of the leading water management companies in Germany.
• 2018-2023 – Several groundbreaking innovations are launched, including a secure container system for lithium-ion battery disposal, the first large-scale TetraPhos® plant for phosphorus recycling, and a processing plant for household and commercial waste.
Today, REMONDIS remains one of the world’s leading service providers in recycling, services, and water.
For instance, REMONDIS Belgien is working to maximise its recycling and material recovery by investing in energy-efficient technologies.
“In this way, we can reduce CO2 emissions across our logistics and operations whilst developing a circular business model,” Pillen details.
Indeed, as a company dedicated to thinking globally and acting locally, with a great deal of team spirit, REMONDIS Belgien is managed in a very decentralised manner, allowing it to maintain direct contact with its clients.
“Combined with international expertise, this helps us bring our ‘think global, act local’ philosophy into practice,” he prides.
SUSTAINING THE FUTURE
Several projects clearly illustrate REMONDIS Belgien’s innovationdriven approach and commitment to sustainability.
For example, the company is currently developing an advanced artificial intelligence (AI)-powered system to analyse incoming waste streams directly from its collection vehicles.
“Because compaction trucks typically unload directly at processing facilities, it is traditionally difficult to assess the quality of the waste at the source,” Pillen explains.
“We see ourselves not just as a service provider, but as a long-term partner to our clients. Flexibility and customisation enable us to provide tailored solutions”
– STEFAAN PILLEN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, REMONDIS BELGIEN
To address this, REMONDIS Belgien is implementing a solution where multiple images are captured during each collection of a specific customer container.
These images are then analysed using AI to identify material composition and sorting quality.
“This initiative serves multiple purposes, such as supporting our customers by providing them with detailed feedback on their waste streams and identifying opportunities for improved sorting,” he tells us.
It also ensures compliance by meeting increasingly strict regulatory requirements and enhances internal processes by linking analysis results to individual customers and feeding insights back into commercial teams.
“We have already achieved significant progress in that the material recognition and customerlinking capabilities are operational,” Pillen reflects.
Going forwards, REMONDIS Belgien’s focus for this project is on
fully automating the reporting and communication of information to customers, authorities, and internal stakeholders.
Indeed, the company’s overall priorities for the future include further expanding its recycling capabilities whilst advancing sustainability performance.
REMONDIS Belgien also hopes to advance its future market position and accelerate digital transformation across the business.
“We aim for growth, but always with a strong focus on quality and long-term impact,” he confidently concludes.
Tel: +32 3 844 99 09
info@remondisdevocht.be www.remondisdevocht.be
