At the forefront of circular electronics

R&L Recycling handles electronic scrap sourced from all over the world. Laptops, servers, switches, desktops, cables, chargers, and circuit boards are shipped to the company’s facility in the Netherlands. There it is sorted for either recycling or reuse with the latter becoming an ever-important part of the business.

R&L Recycling is a familiar name in the international e-scrap processing scene. Materials that go through the shredder at the company headquarters in Helmond, near Eindhoven in the south of the Netherlands, end up at smelters across Europe and beyond. R&L collects materials from all over the world. Containers with scrap arrive from across Europe, from Türkiye and even Colombia.

‘Basically, we take in anything with a printed circuit board or a plug, as long as it is not cooling or heating,’ says operational & logistics manager Horst Prinsen. ‘So laptops, yes, but aircons we don’t do. By the way, every now and then our sorters pick out devices you would perhaps not immediately expect in the stream, like vibrators and even pacemakers. Obviously, this is not our core but there are metals inside we’re eager to recover.’

BAKER BECOMES RECYCLER

The founder and owner of R&L Recycling is Raymond van Melis. He built a career in the bakery sector before switching to recycling in the late 90s. Inspired by the global electronics wave, especially in China, he saw business opportunities still untouched.

‘I’d learned a little about the industry and saw huge business potential to be explored,’ Van Melis says over coffee at the company’s HQ. What started small in 1999 is now a company spanning several halls for stocking, sorting, shearing, and shredding. In addition, there is a large division for reuse, where devices and components are tested. This is becoming more important at R&L, says Prinsen. ‘Today reuse may well be 15% of the total volume we handle.’

DOING THE RIGHT THING

‘We’ve always believed that recycling starts with responsibility,’ says Prinsen. ‘Our goal has never been volume – it has always been doing things right, for our customers and for the environment.’ The landscape of e-waste regulations has evolved dramatically over the past quarter century.

directives to stricter data protection and transport and shipping rules, the industry demands constant adaptation. R&L Recycling has consistently demonstrated leadership in both compliance and innovation, according to Prinsen. ‘We are proud to be among the front runners in the Netherlands. Every permit, every certification, every audit – these are part of the commitment Raymond Van Melis made back in 2008 to do things according to the highest standards.’

Today, the company holds all required permits and maintains Weeelabex certifications for both product reuse and material recovery. ISO 14001 certification further anchors the organisations’s dedication to ‘strong environmental management and continual improvement’.

ONE-STOP SHOP

R&L Recycling has one location covering collection, transport, testing, dismantling and material recovery. Its core services include national and international logistics; collection and secure storage of ICT and electronics; Weeelabex-compliant testing; mechanical dismantling, depollution, shredding, and optical separation; and the worldwide trade of components, equipment and refined material streams.

‘Having the full chain under one roof allows us to ensure quality at every step,’ Prinsen insists. ‘Precise sorting and responsible processing mean the environmental benefits are real.’

PRODUCT REUSE

Before a device is dismantled, R&L checks its potential for reuse. Every potential reuse piece of equipment is tested for functionality, electrical safety and compliance with the latest standards, supported by a dedicated assembly department. ‘Reusing a product is always more sustainable than breaking it down for raw materials,’ says Prinsen.

‘If it can have a second life, it should. I dare say this focus positions us among the very few companies in the Netherlands able to test and validate used electronics at scale.’

REMOVING UNCERTAINTY

With data security concerns growing, on-site data destruction has become one of R&L Recycling’s latest services. The company offers both on-site and in-house destruction through a two-step process of high-performance degaussing approved by the US National Security Agency (NSA).

Prinsen explains: ‘Basically, we provide a data processing method using a high-performance degausser developed for the secure and permanent erasure of data from magnetic storage media. After degaussing the drives, we destroy the internal components, including the data platters by bending, breaking, mangling or shredding.’

All data is destroyed by degaussing but the physical hardrive is not completely shredded, in order to secure its precious metals for proper recovery. R&L’s degausser is quite compact and can be used as a mobile unit on-site, helping companies to safely erase their data. ‘It can be offices but also old data centres that need to be dismantled.’ ‘Security is non-negotiable,’ Prinsen adds.

‘It is often thought that physical destruction is sufficient, but to truly make data unrecoverable, this is only possible with physical destruction of data up to less than 0.5 mm². Our method does not just meet the upcoming NSA benchmarks – it surpasses them. Customers trust us because we remove uncertainty from the process.’

FUTURE VISION

Built on the values of partnership, reliability and quality, R&L Recycling continues to lead the way in responsible electronics processing. The company invests in advanced technology, highest standards of certification, and ongoing training to meet the growing demands of the circular economy.

‘Our commitment is simple,’ Prinsen concludes. ‘We want to make the world cleaner – not just on paper but in practice. Every device we test, every drive we destroy, every shipment we process reflects that mission.’

Read other articles from our latest issue >>