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We are increasingly experiencing the consequences of climate change in our environment, such as the recent floods in South Limburg and just across the border in Erftstadt, Germany, with catastrophic consequences. If it is up to REMONDIS Smart Infra, which specializes in designing and building intelligent pumping systems, among other things, this will not happen again. The German family business also excels in sustainable waste management. An interview with the Managing Director of REMONDIS Netherlands, Dr. Andreas Krawczik and the Managing Director of REMONDIS Smart Infra, Wim Osseweijer.
REMONDIS is one of the world's leading service providers in the field of sustainable water and waste management. More than 30 million citizens worldwide rely on the services of the REMONDIS Group. The originally German family-owned company is also an established name in the Netherlands, employing over 14,500 people in our country with its four business sectors. "With our Smart Infra division, we provide customized solutions in the field of waste, rain and surface water," says Krawczik. "From engineering, consulting and realization to service, maintenance and management. Our strength lies in the combination of knowledge and experience in electrical, mechanical and automation engineering."
REMONDIS designs and supplies total solutions in the field of water management for municipalities, water boards and industry. Osseweijer: "Whether it concerns pumping systems or installations, the drainage of a residential area or infrastructural works such as tunnels and viaducts. From small pressure sewer units to large polder or sewage pumping stations or underpasses. We are involved in all major infrastructure projects in the Netherlands for the design and supply of pump installations. In the coming years, we will also be investing heavily in solutions to tackle flooding. Our solutions are not only technically excellent, but are also groundbreaking in terms of software technology. For example, we build intelligent pumping systems that are self-learning, that recognize when weather conditions are going to change and take immediate action to prevent calamities."
According to REMONDIS, Smart Infra means real-time control over your water management solutions. "But we go one step further," continues Osseweijer. "The next step is to link algorithms to historical and real-time data to use them for proactive maintenance. By identifying wear or abnormal behavior early and actively anticipating it, breakdowns are reduced, technician movements are reduced and reliability is increased. The Municipality of Oost Gelre is the first municipality in the Netherlands to put out to tender the service and maintenance of pump installations in a construction team context. We act as the municipality's partner, so to speak, and we make optimum use of mutual knowledge and experience. In addition, we pay plenty of attention to the physical and digital security of our systems."
Finally, REMONDIS is strong in waste and recycling. "We are a very broad recycler of all kinds of waste materials," says Krawczik. "For example, together with our German subsidiary TSR, we process 10 million scrap metal a year and put it back into circulation. In Lichtenvoorde, we process 8,000 tons of aluminum coffee capsules per year from which new cups and other products are made. The remaining coffee grounds are reused by our Waste To Energy Plant in Nijmegen. This is also home to the first diaper recycling plant where we recover the plastic portion from 8,000 tons of diapers per year and where the excrement is converted into green energy. These are just a few examples of what we mean by recycling. Discarded batteries from electric bicycles and cars are first used in our unique plant just across the border in Germany to absorb voltage peaks and drops in the grid before they are dismantled and recycled. And we are constantly looking for added value. We don't want to recycle products that nobody uses, but rather extract added value from waste."
