A transport company and circular entrepreneurship – a contradiction in terms?

‘It's all about awareness,’ says Jan van Dam. ‘Initially on my part, and then it’s up to me to pass it on to the organisation. We often get used to doing things out of habit. But if you show that things can be done differently and more effectively, others will follow your example! To be honest, working as sustainably as possible has now almost become a sport for us!’

Our vision? Very simple: we do everything we can to work sustainably. At the end of the Week of the Circular Economy, we’d like to show you how we do this. Prepare yourself for a surprise!

If you had asked Jan van Dam that fifteen years ago, he would have said yes. But we have since discovered that many things are possible in that area. Yes, even for an environmentally harmful transport company such as Jan van Dam Machine Transport.

Which is perhaps obvious, but you have to do it properly. Paper, wood, plastic, oil: everything that we can separate is separated. We have waste bins for paper, residual waste and plastic in all kinds of places inside and outside our company. It doesn’t require much effort for employees to dispose of their waste in the right way.

When we learned that there is recyclable work clothing, our jaws dropped in surprise. Now we regard it as normal. The work clothing that we no longer use is collected by a recycling company. Ultimately, the clothing ends up on someone's table as a trendy flower vase or pencil tray. Amazing, right?

Electric is the future. It’s clean, safe and silent. In 2020, we purchased two cranes with mobile battery packs. We also have electric cars driving around. As far as we are concerned, a fully electric truck is the ultimate. As soon as that option is available, we will be one of the first companies to purchase it. We keep track of developments with great interest. 

The battery packs and the electric vehicles are charged with energy generated by the 184 solar panels that adorn our roof. The panels also meet all of our energy requirements.

Foot to the floor? Or let the truck drive along calmly? Every year, all of our drivers take the course ‘The new driving for professional drivers’. They learn how to move more progressively through traffic. This means they have to stop less often, they get to their destination faster and they save fuel. There is also less wear on the tyres and brakes. If that's not a win-win situation, what is?