ARN works with a nationwide collection network for the last owner of a car and/or car battery. Waste materials are collected and processed by a professional network of companies in the Netherlands and abroad. In a high-quality recycling network, ARN collaborates with approximately three hundred companies in total.
ARN in a nutshell
A car manufacturer’s responsibilities include, among others, design, homologation, production, sales, warranty, recalls, and after-sales. ARN carries out the extended producer responsibility for importers in the Netherlands. This specifically relates to organising the collection and processing of end-of-life vehicles and batteries.
ARN stimulates reuse, facilitates innovation, and organises the collection and processing of waste materials. Simultaneously, ARN organises the collection of EV batteries and lithium starter batteries, and supports their reuse (second use) and recycling. Additionally, ARN is involved in the initiative to develop scooter recycling.
ARN works on behalf of the Auto Recycling Foundation, in which the industry organisations BOVAG, RAI Association, and Stiba each provide a board member. The goal is to comply with European obligations for sustainable waste management of cars and EV batteries after they have been discarded. This obligation has been imposed on manufacturers, importers, and other suppliers in the Netherlands since 1995 and is translated into the End-of-Life Vehicles Decree (Bba) and the Extended Producer Responsibility Regulation Decree.
ARN is financed for car recycling from the recycling contribution collected when applying for a Dutch license plate for a car. This money benefits responsible and high-quality recycling. For example, car dismantling companies receive compensation for each dismantled Dutch car, and waste materials are removed free of charge by ARN.
ARN is financed for car battery recycling from a management contribution that can vary based on the weight of the battery. About 70% of the market participates in the collective system for batteries. The management contribution finances the organisation and payment of collection and processing of discarded lithium batteries.
The contribution for car recycling was €20 in 2024 and remains unchanged in 2025. The management contributions for the collection and processing of electric car batteries also remain the same. You can read more about these contributions here (in Dutch).
Our Vision
Recycling of motorized vehicles contributes to the circular economy without harming the environment and living environment. What is not possible now will be possible in the future.
Our Mission
ARN ensures that both now and in the long term, at least the legal objectives for vehicle and battery recycling are achieved responsibly and at acceptable costs.
Our Ambition
Towards 2050, ARN wants to support the chain step by step in independently realizing reuse and recycling of motorized vehicles, share knowledge about it, report on it, and of course achieve the recycling goals.
With this ambition in mind, ARN developed its long-term strategy (see below). Based on this, we respond to (future) developments and (help) bring about circularity in the sector. The strategy is recalibrated annually, and of course when there are relevant developments. This is the case with the entry into force of the battery regulation in August 2025 and when the new End-of-life vehicles regulation (probably in 2026) is definitively published.
Concrete actions are laid down in an operational annual plan. The results of our work, and that of the joint chain, are reported to the national government on behalf of the car importers.
Organisation and Management
The daily operation of ARN Auto Recycling Nederland B.V. is managed by about twenty professionals who work from an office in Breukelen. Leadership is provided by the managing director, who is supported by a three-person management team.
Our clients are the Auto Recycling Foundation and the Car Battery Recycling Foundation. Supervision is carried out by the supervisory board. All commissioners are of Dutch nationality:
- Gerrit Mastenbroek (chairman). Appointed on April 23, 2020. Relevant other positions: Opportunity partner Globitas Capital, senior advisor Boston Consulting Group,
statutory custodian of administration for former cooperative CNC, board member Saver NV - Gerard Bolder. Appointed on May 23, 2023. Relevant other positions: board member RDW
- Marinke Wijngaard. Appointed on April 23, 2020. Relevant other positions: board member Berenschot, member SER Top Women
More information about our clients and board members can be found here.
Innovation
Innovation to promote higher-quality reuse is growing in importance at ARN. The organisation is supported on this and on strategic issues and developments by the ARN Innovation Advisory Council, both solicited and unsolicited.
This council has three external members: Marc van den Brand, Jean Pierre Heijster, and Willy Tomboy. Participating from ARN are: Paul Dietz (chairman), Janet Kes (secretary), and Thorsten Friedrich (member).
Our Approach
Our core activity consists of monitoring and coordinating the recycling chain for cars and EV batteries to ensure, together with the recycling chain, that the legal recycling target is met. ARN follows the material flows from the moment a car is registered for dismantling until the recycling of the last remnants.
ARN reports the achieved results to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management .
From this solid structure, ARN invests in the development of the chain, both to improve recycling results and to better safeguard safety in the chain. This includes initiatives in the areas of innovation, knowledge sharing, and bringing together knowledge parties and market parties.
For example, in 2001, ARN developed the Quality Management Dismantling (KZD) quality management system together with Stiba. This was the first time standards for dismantling, labor legislation, material recycling, and quality were combined and established. By getting certified, dismantling companies show that they work in an environmentally responsible and safe manner.
ARN also organises various trainings on safe working practices and safe handling of critical (liquid) substances, such as refrigerants and batteries.
Own organisation
Although the impact of our team is not proportional to the impact we have with our core activities, we are committed to minimizing the ecological footprint of our operations. Partly for this reason, ARN decided in 2024 to seek certification for ISO 14001:2015 (environmental management). We also anticipate the implementation of CSRD for partners requesting sustainability information from ARN.
We ensure the quality of our services through our quality management system, for which we are certified according to ISO 9001:2015.
European Collaboration
With the new European End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation on the horizon, Febelauto (Belgian sister organisation of ARN) and ARN have taken the initiative to increase European cooperation through the so-called ELV Forum. The differences in implementation of end-of-life vehicle obligations are significant in the nineteen participating countries but we all have to deal with the new stricter rules from Brussels.
This led, among other things, to a joint position on the upcoming End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation of the European Commission (see also Plans and Programs). This was presented at the International Automobile Recycling Congress (IARC) in Antwerp.