Van der Ven Auto Recycling B.V. (Van der Ven) is a vehicle dismantling company located at Ettenseweg 76 in Roosendaal, in the Netherlands. Sustainable car recycling and high-quality car dismantling are their priority. “Together we strive for a green automotive recycling industry, are you a part of it?”
Van der Ven was started in 1979. In the beginning, the company consisted of an office and scrap yard with an area for dismantling vehicles. Since then, the company has grown enormously.
Currently, Van der Ven sits on an area of 11 hectares with office buildings, a reception area, an automated warehouse with a wide range of car parts, a “castle” for crushed car wrecks, a dismantling hall, a tyre hall, a liquid-free hall, a garage, a building for the purchasing department with a large fleet for used and damaged cars, plus a self-service concept called ‘Venyard’, where customers can disassemble the car parts they are looking for.
Renovation and expansion
A lot is being renewed within the company. At the end of 2021, the renovation and expansion of the dismantling hall began. A liquid-tight floor will be installed soon so that the floor is fully protected against all liquids, including oil, coolant, fuel, gearbox oil and brake fluid. In order to work in an environmentally friendly and efficient manner, the end-of-life vehicles are made liquid-free before dismantling by means of the draining system. As such, the draining system will be renewed and placed next to the renovated dismantling hall.
There have been additions to the vehicle parts, depollution and dismantling areas, including new depollution ramps, four tilting lifts for dismantling engines and gearboxes, and 11 ramps for ‘regular’ dismantling. There is a quality check area for green parts, trolleys to move the cars around instead of forklifts, and fixed cranes to move heavy parts around the dismantling area.
New personnel facilities are also changing; the canteen is now approaching the final phase – a whole new canteen has been placed at a different location with a lot more space. And a special safety instruction room has been built for visitors to be instructed on safety measures whilst on the premises, which can also be found in the canteen.
And the large warehouse where a wide range of car parts are stored has been equipped with a new gadget – ‘a goods elevator’, which can raise or lower a maximum of 500KG. With this elevator, Van der Ven can offer its employees a safer working environment.
Vehicle collection and new trucks
Van der Ven collects approximately 800 cars a week, which include damaged, used and scrap ones. Vehicles can be brought to Van der Ven, or their national pickup service can collect them. The transport department is equipped with newer and more modern means of transport for the removal of these vehicles. Soon there will be a number of newer and more modern trucks on display at Van der Ven, and a number of Sprinters will also be replaced by newer models in the coming year.
The castle and car press
Behind the office spaces is the “castle”, aptly named because it is built in the shape of a castle – its purpose is to increase safety in the recycling area; the physical barrier greatly reduces the risk of a fire spreading as well as serving as a noise barrier. And recently, new Powerhand machinery and car press were placed in the “castle” and is now operational after finding their way from the United States to the Roosendaal site. This equipment allows the company to recycle even more cars to contribute to its targets for the coming years.
Check out the video below of car crushing in the ‘castle’ at Van der Ven Auto:
Look out for further renovations to the building at Ettenseweg 76!
