On Tuesday 29th April 2025, the Recydel site in Wandre, part of Renewi's E-waste division, opened its doors to the Walloon Minister for the Environment, Yves Coppieters, and the City of Liège's Alderman for the Environment, Carine Clotuche, for an on-site visit dedicated to the recycling of E-waste. 

Organised at the initiative of Recupel, the visit aimed to highlight the environmental and economic challenges associated with processing this complex type of waste which continues to grow across Europe.

During their visit, the officials had the opportunity to discover Recydel’s modern facilities, and the innovative processes deployed to ensure thorough sorting, depollution, and dismantling, along with optimal recovery of materials — particularly rare metals. Recydel also used the occasion to outline the site's key priorities for the coming years, including safety issues and the importance of dialogue with local stakeholders.

Recupel, for its part, underlined the importance of close collaboration between all actors involved in the sector.

Eric Dewaet, CEO of Recupel : “The e-waste sector is like a high-performing sports team. Everyone must fully play their part while working together: the consumer returns used devices to collection points; Recupel organises the collection, recycling, and reuse; companies carry out depollution and recycling in line with current standards; and public authorities establish a framework that allows targets to be met and progress to be reported.”

Yves Coppieters, Minister for the Environment:: “This visit was highly informative. Discovering the Recydel site reveals the hidden side of our consumer society — where the circular economy truly comes into its own. Beyond the technologies deployed, it's clear that this is a sector where people remain very much at the heart of the process. Manual sorting and ongoing machine maintenance are still key factors in effective material separation, and also in reducing the fire risks associated with batteries. It reminds us of the importance of taking the right actions at home: sorting batteries properly, as well as the devices that contain them, and handing them over to recycling professionals.”

Guillaume Tellier, Operations Manager at Renewi E-waste: “This visit by the authorities was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the extent of Recydel’s efforts to ensure optimal e-waste recycling. As a key player in Belgium’s circular economy, Recydel is committed to transforming this waste into valuable resources that can be reused in new production chains — and to being a producer of secondary raw materials.”