Renewi E-waste and the collection organisation ecosystem officially opened a recycling line yesterday in Lesquin (Hauts-de-France region, France), focused on the dismantling and processing of discarded electric boilers. This innovative line contributes to climate protection by safely extracting greenhouse gases from the insulation foam. Moreover, by recovering valuable materials for reuse, it represents an important step towards a more circular economy in France.

Electric boilers: an invisible source of greenhouse gas emissions

Electric boilers are widespread in households, providing comfort and hygiene to around 16 million French families. While they supply hot water and convenience, they pose an environmental risk at the end of their life cycle. This is due to the insulation foam inside these appliances, which contains powerful greenhouse gases – gases that can be many times more harmful to the environment than CO₂. As long as the gases remain trapped within the foam, they do not pose an immediate threat. However, when boilers are improperly processed and crushed, these ozone-depleting gases are released, potentially causing serious harm to the environment and public health.

To address this issue, the organisation ecosystem launched a call for the treatment of electric boilers in a sealed environment. Renewi E-waste was entrusted with implementing this technology in the Hauts-de-France region.

Recycling technology inspired by fridge processing

For this new line, Renewi E-waste drew on years of expertise in the sustainable processing of refrigerators, which are technically very similar to electric boilers. The existing infrastructure at the Lesquin site was expanded with a washing line and a pre-shredder, which ensure the optimal recovery of residual water and limescale and break down components into smaller pieces for efficient manual or automated sorting. The fridge recycling line then enables the proper recovery of gases, polyurethane (PUR), and metals, so they can be reused as much as possible in production processes across various industries.

Renewi E-waste expects to recycle around 15,500 tonnes of discarded boilers each year.

“Renewi firmly believes that environmental challenges must be met with innovation, cooperation, and concrete action. This boiler recycling line is a perfect example: it embodies our commitment to combining economic performance, environmental responsibility, and local value creation. It also represents a key milestone in our ambition to transform today’s waste into tomorrow’s circular materials. Alongside the entire sector, we are committed to actively supporting the development of a strong industrial sector in the Hauts-de-France region,” stated Bas van Ginkel, Managing Director of Renewi E-waste.

“At ecosystem, our mission is to protect the environment, natural resources, and public health. Creating this new industrial sector was therefore a tremendous opportunity aligned with our environmental ambitions. Our role was to bring together all project stakeholders — collectors, metal traders, treatment centers...— since these new units required the implementation of an entirely new process across the whole treatment chain. Together, we reached a consensus on a new economic model that respects the interests of all parties,” underlined Nathalie Yserd, General Director of ecosystem.