Environment
Contracting
Environmental contracting at Group De Cloedt is performed by the companies DC Industrial NV and DC Environment NV, both located in Belgium.
DC Industrial holds both the A8 and G8 contractor certifications. At Group De Cloedt, contracting means that we deal with the client’s problem and offer an end solution by means of a strategic approach. It starts with analysing the problem, then co-engineering a solution, up to and including the execution and delivery of the end solution.
Our projects include remediation of soil & groundwater, sediments, and waste material in a broad sense.
The main services that we can offer with in-house expertise are the following (not limited list):
- Soil and groundwater remediation.
- Environmental dredging and sediment management (including installation and management of sediment dewatering lagoons).
- Rehabilitation and refurbishment of industrial landfill facilities
For soil & groundwater remediation works, we have extensive experience with both excavation techniques and in-situ techniques. For sediment remediation projects, we execute the removal of the sediments and the dewatering, treatment, and recycling afterwards. We keep all remedial solutions open as we are not bound to a specific provider of remedial equipment nor have exclusivity in one way or another.
The contracting projects are executed both as stand-alone projects and as part of a broader environmental solution for the client. The origin of the expertise in this area is in Belgium but we do perform this type of projects also in other countries, under the direction of the team in Belgium. For example, we have project references in Germany, France, UK, etc.
The environmental contracting team often searches for synergies with other departments like aggregates or logistics. This combination is what makes Group De Cloedt unique. The projects are performed under the legal entity of DC Industrial NV (international) or DC Environment NV (for soil & groundwater projects only, in Belgium).
Our clients are diverse, ranging from public clients to private industry and other large construction companies.
Recycling
One of Group De Cloedt’s main services, through its subsidiaries Bioterra NV in Belgium, and AWS France, is the treatment and valorisation of polluted soils, sediments and other mineral waste (road sweeping sand, sewage slurry, gully waste car wash sludge, sand blasting grit, foundry sand, fines from C & D waste, bottom ashes, etc.).
Bioterra operates the production sites, whereas AWS France operates a platform along the river Seine near Paris. From the mid-nineties until today, Bioterra has evolved from a service company that treats mainly polluted soils to a producer of high quality recycled aggregates for more sustainable and circular building materials.
Today, Bioterra is collecting polluted soils, sediments, and mineral waste from all over Belgium, through a network of internal and external platforms. At its registered and certified main facility in Genk (13,5 hectares located along the Albert Canal), four services are offered:
- In its centre for temporary storage, soil, and sludge processing, recognized by the Flemish government, Bioterra has an environmental permit for the storage and processing of contaminated or uncontaminated soils and various types of mineral waste (see above). Where soils to be thermally cleaned and asphalt containing tar are only transhipped for processing abroad, physico-chemical cleaning (wet density separation) and upgrading/improving of numerous soil-like flows, including the necessary subsequent sorting, are carried out on its own site. Annually, Bioterra processes approximately 1 million tons of contaminated or uncontaminated soils and mineral waste streams.
- Bioterra has several sites in Belgium which perform the dewatering of sediments and other waste streams that require it before further treatment or re-use. The total dewatering capacity is approximately 100K tons/year.
- Bioterra operates the most sophisticated soil & mineral waste washing facility (wet density separation) in Belgium, located in Genk, province of Limburg. Due to its strategic location near the borders of the Netherlands, Germany, and the short distance from the region of Liège in the Walloon area, we collect and treat a variety of soil and waste streams. The capacity of the plant is 250K tons/years on average. Depending on the characteristics of the soil and waste, and given the capabilities of Group De Cloedt in managing export/import licenses and logistics, materials are regularly collected and treated from elsewhere in Europe.
- Bioterra is a leading partner in the production of secondary building materials in the form of high-quality recycled aggregates The output of its washing plant (sand, gravel in different sizes) is used to prepare mixtures fit-for-use which are sold to the construction industry. Driven by local legislation and the ambition of many producers of building materials, this service is fast growing, as it follows fluently the flow of the circular economy. In order to perpetuate the growth in the circular construction market, Bioterra spends a lot of time and energy on R&D regarding the possible application areas for its recycled aggregates. Through several large-scale demo projects, it is certain that the application limits have not yet been reached, on the contrary.... As such, today Bioterra produces at least 200k tons/years of secondary materials for the construction industry.
Our clients are diverse, ranging from public clients to private industry and other large construction companies.