Sustainable pilot; waste transported in bales by rail

(Venlo, 10 July 2023) The go-ahead was recently given for a trial to transport residual waste by rail instead of road. A total of 500 tonnes of residual waste will be transported in bales by train. The aim of the pilot is to investigate whether it is possible to transport waste more efficiently via train transport instead of road transport. The cooperating parties are recycler Renewi, DB Cargo Netherlands, Cabooter Venlo, AEB Amsterdam, Topsector Logistiek.

Every week, Renewi transports 1,300 tonnes of residual waste by road from Limburg. This is about 59 transport movements. During the pilot, the technical feasibility of baling the waste, without shredding, and then placing these bales in a train wagon, will be investigated.

More sustainable logistics

"Reducing our carbon footprint is one of our objectives," says Martijn Rüth, General Area Manager Renewi Netherlands. "For this, more sustainable logistics is important. Transporting waste by rail instead of road reduces CO2 and traffic on Dutch roads."

"With this pilot, we want to gain insights into the technical aspects, preconditions such as permit requirements, actual costs and the amount of CO2 reduction from transport," says Kim Hazelaar, Programme Manager of Top Sector Logistics. "These results will provide insight into the extent to which rail is a good alternative for transporting waste."

"During the pilot, 500 tonnes of waste will be transported by rail in one go. Normally, 23 trucks are needed for that. So this method of transport is better for the environment and better for road traffic flow," said Nanouke van 't Riet, CEO/COO of DB Cargo Netherlands. "So a logistical win-win situation," adds Rogier Masselink Manager Market & Communication of AEB Amsterdam. "Together we are committed to making waste handling more sustainable throughout the chain, including in terms of logistics."

With bales, many more tonnes of waste can be transported, than with loose waste. It saves costs and produces CO2 reductions. ''It is great to see that we can be part of making transport in the Netherlands even more sustainable, through our crucial position within Europe's logistics hotspot,'' said Rodney Ferris, COO of the Cabooter Group.

Sustainable mobility is high on the agenda. All parties look forward to gaining the right insights through this pilot to make transport of waste streams further sustainable. The pilot, including the verbalisation of waste, will last a total of three weeks.