Electric equipment and sustainable asphalt mixtures

At infrastructure works in Amsterdam

KWS is the market leader in road construction and the production of asphalt in the Netherlands and -just like parent company VolkerWessels- has fine goals in terms of sustainability. Emission-free in 2030 and 100% circular in 2040. Ambitious? Definitely. Feasible? Certainly, say Raymond van de Stadt and Pepijn Kok of KWS.

"The Netherlands is leading the way when it comes to the use of electric equipment and sustainability in the infrastructure market is advancing rapidly compared to other segments," says Van de Stadt, director of asphalt company KWS and a catalyst for electric asphalt equipment within KWS. "All our clients want to become more sustainable, but the large international machine manufacturers are lagging behind. With our frontrunner approach, we are trying to get the acceleration going and where that is not fast enough, we convert machines ourselves."

Innovative electrical equipment

For example, KWS has already converted an asphalt spreader and five static three-roll rollers. It has also built a mobile fast-charging station that recharges all the machines during shifts. "Preservation is customized work. Fortunately, we have the people, resources and expertise in-house to do innovative things like this." More and more manufacturers and also the Department of Public Works see how far KWS is willing to go and that the company continuously invests in sustainability. "We are gaining a lot of experience in it now and when it soon becomes commonplace, we will already be in a strong position." 

Investing in sustainability

Kok, business manager at Amsterdam-Utrecht branch, notes that the distance between the average customer and an innovative contractor in electrification is still very great. "We are investing now, for the future of our customers and for the viability of our company. In the end, that in turn is good for the overall economy." In addition to the large deployment of electric equipment, KWS is also focusing on applying sustainable asphalt mixtures. "After all, it is in these two areas that we can make the biggest strides in our industry," Van de Stadt knows.

Sustainable asphalt mixtures

To achieve its sustainability ambitions, KWS is investing in the best available technologies in asphalt production to produce 100% low-temperature circular asphalt. "In doing so, we reuse the material released during a road renovation and carry out our projects as sustainably as possible. We therefore no longer deliver promises, but truly a circular and zero-emission product," says Kok, "where the total cost of circular and zero-emission work does not have to be higher than with the traditional way of working."

Sustainability infrastructure work

A great example of the sustainability of infrastructure work is the asphalt maintenance in Stadsdeel West (Amsterdam), a follow-up to the recently successfully completed work in Stadsdeel Oost, which also includes beach work IJburg with the 750-meter-long city beach. This was the first project that KWS fully CO₂-negative has resulted. Kok concludes, "Among other things, we have a cooperation agreement with the City of Amsterdam in which we are given space to deploy and test new sustainable innovations. This way we can continue to develop and innovate, because after all, together we want the best for the future."