Belgium: how the Arocs and Actros support the recycling specialist Ivo Van den Bosch

Economics & Logistics

Perfect paintwork.

Intelligently collecting and separating waste is Ivo Van den Bosch's core competence. Trucks bearing the three-pointed star are playing an increasingly important role here.

Bringing order to rubbish. The waste brought in by the Arocs is hand-sorted by Ivo Van den Bosch employees.


Notwithstanding the tough work they do, the bright orange-red trucks on the Ter Stratenweg industrial site in Oelegem always look spick and span. “We do repaint them from time to time,” says company founder Ivo Van den Bosch. “Although we generally replace our vehicles after five years, I want them to make an excellent impression.” And this also applies to waste management.


The striking trucks collect containers from various locations and take them to one of the company group's five sites, each with an area of around two hectares. “The multiple sites are important because they enable us to keep the waste materials properly separated. Hand-sorting is then carried out on a covered sorting line. We are, as it were, the link between the companies who give us their waste and those who collect recycled waste fractions. We guarantee the latter that whatever they take meets all the legal requirements,” explains Ivo Van den Bosch.

He started out in 1987 with a Mercedes-Benz SK 2626 6x6 and a single container. Today he heads a company with three different departments, around 100 employees and fleet of 25 trucks. The Ivo Van den Bosch container service is the largest division. Fifty employees work there. Aabik, specialising in demolition work, was taken over from an insolvency and currently employs 30 people. And the 15 employees at Bobrik deal with asbestos disposal.


“The strengths of these trucks are their reliability, their robustness and their higher residual value. And Mercedes-Benz also ensures that the new vehicles receive the correct body.”

– Ivo Van den Bosch, waste management entrepreneur


Clean system. Ivo Van den Bosch has five different sites, each earmarked for different types of waste.
Clean system. Ivo Van den Bosch has five different sites, each earmarked for different types of waste.
Clean system. Ivo Van den Bosch has five different sites, each earmarked for different types of waste.
Clean system. Ivo Van den Bosch has five different sites, each earmarked for different types of waste.

“These sites are of course closely linked with one another, because they provide complementary services,” says Ivo Van den Bosch. “Most of our customers come from sectors related to building or road construction, but our crushing facility is also very popular with contractors, who come here with their tractors to collect earth.”

The sustainability of transportation is very important to Ivo Van den Bosch. “That is why we make every effort to transport as much waste as possible by water. We have our own dock on the Albert Canal. This is for waste from our crushing facility, and also wood. The latter is put through the shredder once a month and then transported away on two ships. If you consider that all the materials used to be transported by road via Antwerp towards Wevelgem, then it's clear that with this measure we are keeping hundreds of trucks off the road every month,” the entrepreneur comments.



Mercedes-Benz is very well represented in the Ivo Van den Bosch fleet, with 20 trucks. “Strengths are their reliability, their robustness and their higher residual value. Incidentally, our two permanently employed mechanics especially praise the fact that they have no problems working on the vehicles.”

Ivo Van den Bosch values the expert opinion of these men very highly. “And this most certainly accounts for the ever increasing proportion of trucks with the three-pointed star in our fleet,” he emphasises. The latest specimen is an Arocs 3345 K for dual use: it is not only used as a towing vehicle for a low loader, but also as a tipper vehicle. “We have also ordered two Actros 2533 L, which are being fitted with a body as a compacting truck from VDK, and an Antos 1830 L, which is going to be used for collecting glass, lubricants, batteries and other smaller waste materials,” continues Ivo Van den Bosch. This vehicle is fitted with a sliding tarpaulin, which means that cardboard waste pressed into balls which can no longer be moved by hand can be loaded using a forklift. “These are minor adjustments but they make all the difference to our customers.”


Photos: Dirk Willemen

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