History

From 1995 to the present
ARN (Auto Recycling Nederland) was established in 1995 by the automotive industry, to help it meet the statutory requirement to process cars in a sustainable manner at the end of their useful life. ARN is accountable to the government for compliance with this obligation, on behalf of the car manufacturers and importers.

Recycling percentage
ARN collaborates with numerous partners in the recycling and mobility sectors. Together with its partners, ARN has achieved a recycling percentage of 85%. In other words, it is able to recycle 85% of the weight of a car. Since 1995, ARN has recycled more than 3 million cars and the number is rising every day.

15 years of know-how and experience
ARN has been accumulating know-how and experience in the recycling of cars and related products for almost 15 years. In all its activities, ARN searches for the right balance between environmental performance and economic feasibility. The strength of ARN’s system lies here, in finding practical solutions for recycling and environmental problems. And not just formulating solutions, but actually putting them into practice. This explains why ARN is frequently consulted on innovations and measures to address problems in the field of the environment and sustainability.

Challenge
The challenge facing ARN for some time now has been to increase the recycling percentage to 95%. It has chosen to achieve this by adopting a technology that focuses mainly on producing material streams for which markets already exist, since one can only speak of recycling if the products are actually used again. ARN also develops its own markets by applying its theoretical knowledge of technology and materials to commercial possibilities.Since our focus has shifted from cars to the recycling of the materials taken from cars, this specially developed know-how can also be applied to materials from products with a similar composition.

Collaboration
Legislation on the recycling of batteries has been revised in such a way that a separate collection network had to be established. ARN has built this network, in association with the Dutch Batteries Foundation (STIBAT), and in doing so has expanded its activities to embrace the collection and processing of batteries from motorcycles.

Future
An organization that started life as a response to a statutory obligation is now in a position to use its knowledge and expertise to help create a more sustainable society.