RENEWI E-WASTE B.V.

Their core work

Renewi E-Waste B.V., operating as Coolrec, is a Dutch industrial-scale recycler specializing in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). They process end-of-life electronics, vehicles, and construction waste to recover polymers, critical raw materials, and secondary resources. Their core technical contribution lies in handling hazardous substances — particularly brominated flame retardants — during plastic recycling, and developing viable routes to turn contaminated waste streams into clean, reusable materials. As part of the larger Renewi waste management group, they bring industrial processing capacity and logistics expertise to EU research consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 work (2014–2018) centered on disassembly and material recovery from consumer electronics and ICT devices, with a focus on specific materials like lithium-ion batteries, antimony, and graphite. From 2019 onward, the focus shifted decisively toward the chemical challenge of making recycled plastics safe and reusable — removing flame retardants, purifying polymer streams, and handling hazardous additives across WEEE, end-of-life vehicles, and construction waste. This evolution shows a company moving upstream from mechanical processing toward advanced chemical recycling and purification.

Renewi E-Waste is deepening its expertise in clean polymer recycling technologies, positioning itself as a go-to industrial partner for projects that need to close the loop on contaminated plastic waste streams.

How they like to work

Renewi E-Waste consistently joins as a participant rather than leading consortia, contributing industrial recycling infrastructure and real-world processing know-how. With 62 unique partners across 16 countries, they are well-networked but not a hub — they bring practical capacity to research-driven projects. Their role is the industrial validation partner: the organization that can test whether a lab-scale recycling process actually works at factory scale.

Collaborated with 62 unique partners across 16 countries, indicating broad European reach. Their network spans academic institutions, technology developers, and fellow waste processors across the WEEE recycling value chain.

What sets them apart

Renewi E-Waste stands out because they operate at industrial scale — they are not a lab or a consultancy but an actual processor handling real waste streams daily. This makes them invaluable for any consortium that needs to demonstrate a recycling technology works beyond the lab. Their specific niche in WEEE plastics contaminated with flame retardants is a technically demanding area where few companies have both the processing infrastructure and the regulatory compliance experience.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PLAST2bCLEANED
  Largest single budget (EUR 396,092) and longest duration (2019–2024), focused on the full chain from sorting to polymer recycling with superheated separation.
• CREAToR
  Explores advanced purification methods (supercritical CO2, twin-screw extruders) that signal Renewi's move into next-generation recycling technologies.
• CloseWEEE
  Their first H2020 project (2014) and broadest scope — covering electronics disassembly, battery materials, and polymer recovery in an integrated approach.