Netherlands

'Quality wins the contest'

A business relationship going back over 30 years links Netherlands company Baars to Komptech. With its composting operation, Baars is one of the pioneers in the processing of green waste into ‘Groencompost’.

image

Not long ago they bought an Axtor 6210 for shredding. ‘Quality wins the contest. And if you deliver quality, you’ll get ahead in the market,’ says Arie Baars when asked what motivates him anew every day. After he took over the family business founded by his father and uncle, the employee count rose to its current 50 or so. The modern machine park has also expanded, mostly with Komptech machines. The Axtor 6210 will be the tenth machine Komptech has delivered to Baars.

 

Successful green recycling

J. & C. J. Baars Hoofddorp started in the 70s as a hauling operation. The portfolio soon expanded to include bulk material supply, soil decontamination, and the acceptance and processing of green waste. The subsidiary De Breekhoorn B.V. was founded in order to expand composting operations. Under the management of Arie Baars all this gave rise to an exemplary company operation, as evidenced by the many quality certificates decorating the reception area of the headquarters in Lijnden in North Holland. In 2015 the company received the Keucompost certificate. “It’s OK to be proud of what you’ve achieved,” says Arie Baars. “Customers expect top quality from us, and they get it.”

Every year his team shreds, composts and transforms around 20,000 tonnes of green waste into high quality products. The company makes 60,000 tonnes of quality compost each year, screened with a Nemus drum screen. The Nemus is also used to mix ingredients in order to get the ideal homogeneity.

image
image

Quality compost with the Nemus

Demand for quality compost is so high that he could easily sell twice as much, says Arie Baars, so he doesn’t worry about his company’s future. At De Breekhoorn quality starts when the green waste arrives, because only clean green cuttings and clean grass enter processing. The processing itself is done by trained personnel and specially designed machines. ‘It’s also important to keep the facility clean. That influences the behaviour of our suppliers,’ says Baars. Accordingly, if possible the material is processed the same day as it comes in. Groenrecycling De Breekhoorn’s customers include landscapers, builders, civil authorities and private individuals.

Our workshop staff were also immediately impressed by the good accessibility and service-friendliness of this shredder.

Arie Baars

An Axtor completes the set-up

Back in the mid-80s Baars had acquired a Maxx drum screen for its wide-ranging activities. As time went by Mustang screeners, Nemus drum screeners and in 2020 a Crambo 5200 with energy efficient direct drive were added. A Hurrikan S wind sifter has been in use for a while off-site as a rental machine, helping other processers improve their compost quality. Arie Baars decided to get an all-purpose Axtor 6210 Track after he saw the high-speed chipper in action at a demo arranged by Komptech sales partner PON Equipment. He says, ‘What I especially like about the Axtor is the long feed open to the back. Our workshop staff were also immediately impressed by the good accessibility and service-friendliness of this shredder. This is an area where the Axtor really stands out from the competitor machines we had used previously.’ Arie has nothing but praise for PON Equipment customer rep Harald Wildenbeest. ‘Harald is somebody who keeps his word, and keeps agreements.’  

A good relationship

Well-trained and motivated personnel are just as much a part of the successful company history of Baars as are Komptech’s innovative machines. In order to show his appreciation and gratitude, the boss has been known to fire up the grill and cook for the team on Fridays.

From Komptech, Arie Baars would like to see further development of electric machines. ‘The future of working machinery is in electrification and efficiency increases,’ he says with conviction. For us, it’s a confirmation that with the e-mobile Crambo and Terminator models, and the electric versions of the Cribus and Multistar screeners, we have correctly identified and addressed a need of our customers.

image