Road2Work
Road2Work is a Dutch social enterprise that processes e-waste (laptops, white goods) across five sites while delivering employment reintegration services to people with a distance to the labor market. Revenue comes from processing fees, refurbished-goods resale via Road2Re-use, and Participatiewet-funded reintegration contracts with municipalities.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersEde, Netherlands
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Road2Work does
Road2Work is a Dutch social enterprise that combines e-waste recycling with employment reintegration services for people with a distance to the Dutch labor market. Founded by Erik Schalk in 2009/2010 and operating commercially since 2012, the company processes approximately 875 tons of e-waste per year across five Dutch sites (Ede as headquarters, plus Dalfsen, Nijmegen, Kampen/Compu-All, and Emmen) using a Weeelabex-certified, predominantly manual processing line that achieves a stated 95% material recycling rate. The mixed-throughput operation handles 120,000+ laptops and 40,000+ white goods per year, refurbishing roughly 18,000 laptops for resale, while also supporting 290+ reintegration candidates cumulatively with a 37% transition rate into paid employment.
The technology stack is process-and-labor based rather than algorithmic: a state-of-the-art mechanical sorting belt at Nijmegen complements hand disassembly, with sample testing and analysis supporting quality control. No proprietary software platform or AI-driven sorting system is referenced; the company's differentiation rests on operational expertise, certifications, and ecosystem position.
Commercially, Road2Work operates through several legal entities (Road2Work Ede B.V., Road2Re-use B.V., Road2Work IJssel-Vecht B.V., Road2Work@Dar B.V., and Road2Work Re-Integratie) and generates revenue from three streams: (1) e-waste processing and throughput fees, (2) refurbished electronics and white-goods resale under the Road2Re-use brand, and (3) reintegration services funded largely through Dutch municipal channels under the Participatiewet. Customers and partners include Stichting OPEN (producer responsibility), Wecycle, Dar (waste collection), Philadelphia (care), Omrin, and municipalities across the Netherlands; the company is founder-owned with no disclosed external funding.
Road2Work firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Road2Work
- Legal name
- Road2Work Nederland B.V.
- Website
- https://road2work.info
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Road2Work is a Dutch social enterprise that processes e-waste (laptops, white goods) across five sites while delivering employment reintegration services to people with a distance to the labor market. Revenue comes from processing fees, refurbished-goods resale via Road2Re-use, and Participatiewet-funded reintegration contracts with municipalities.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Road2Work industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Electronic Waste Recycling and Re-integration Services
- NAICS
- Materials Recovery Facilities (56292)
- SIC
- Refuse Systems (4953)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Consumer E-waste Collection & Take-Back Programs (EUAIAIAA)
Keywords
Where Road2Work is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Ede
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices5 records
Markets served
Road2Work business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- E-waste recycling services: Road2Work verwerkt elektronisch afval voor bedrijven, gemeenten en instanties. Het materiaal wordt gesorteerd, gedemonteerd en aangeboden aan gecertificeerde verwerkers. Grondstoffen worden verwerkt tot herbruikbare materialen.
- Refurbished electronics sales (Road2Re-use): Road2Re-use verkoopt gerefurbisheerde laptops, koffiemachines en andere apparatuur via retail partners in Nederland en Europa. Onderdelen worden wereldwijd verkocht. 'Hergebruik als het kan, Recycling als het moet.'
- Re-integratie begeleiding: Begeleiding van mensen met afstand tot arbeidsmarkt naar duurzaam betaald werk. Gefinancierd via Participatiewet, loonkostensubsidies en samenwerking met gemeenten en werkgevers.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels5 records
Road2Work product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Road2Work manually disassembles and sorts electronic waste for companies, municipalities and waste-management organizations, achieving up to 95% recycling rates across more than ten material categories. Through its Road2Re-use subsidiary it refurbishes and resells laptops, white goods and other electronics. In parallel, the Re-integratie division coaches and places people with a distance to the labor market into sustainable paid employment under the Dutch Participatiewet.
Product overview
Road2Work operates as a combined e-waste recycling and employment reintegration social enterprise. The company runs multiple processing locations (Ede, IJssel-Vecht/Dalfsen, Nijmegen, Kampen/Compu-All, Emmen) that manually sort and disassemble electronic waste including laptops, large appliances (washing machines, dishwashers), and ICT equipment. The subsidiary Road2Re-use handles refurbishment and resale of suitable equipment, while the Re-integratie division provides employment pathway services. Together they achieve 95% recycling rates through manual processing, with 37% of candidates achieving paid employment. The company processes over 875 tons of e-waste annually including 120,000 laptops, with 18,000 laptops refurbished for reuse each year.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Road2Re-use: Central hub in the repair economy offering used parts and refurbished equipment a second life. Sells coffee machines in the Netherlands, laptops across Europe, and parts worldwide.
- Road2Work Re-integratie
Products and services
- E-waste Recycling Services Manual disassembly and sorting of electronic waste into more than ten material categories for businesses, municipalities and waste-management organisations, achieving up to 95% recycling rates versus machine processing. Materials are then handed to certified processors through the Stichting OPEN network.
- Employment Re-integration Services (Road2Work Re-integratie) Structured re-integration programme under the Dutch Participatiewet that provides learning and work placements with experienced job coaches and werkleiders, develops work rhythm, work ethos and labour skills, and supports candidates for up to six months after placement into a paid role. Funded via municipality contracts, wage-cost subsidies and partnerships with employers.
- Road2Re-use Refurbished Electronics Refurbishment and resale service that gives used laptops, coffee machines, game consoles and kitchen appliances a second life. Refurbished laptops are sold across Europe, coffee machines in the Netherlands, and used parts worldwide. The offering operates weekly product testing and recovery from environmental stations, web-shop returns and producer returns.
- Road2Re-use White Goods Refurbishment New initiative under the Road2Re-use brand that refurbishes white goods and kitchen appliances and is setting up a dedicated branch for harvesting reusable parts from white-goods products, expanding the second-life value chain beyond laptops and small electronics.
Quantifiable outcome
- 95% recycling percentage door handmatige verwerking
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Road2Work
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Road2Work technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Road2Work partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- WecyclecoreE-waste inzameling partner voor het verzamelen en verwerken van elektronisch afval
- Stichting OPENcoreMaatschappelijk initiatief voor verwerking van gedemonteerde grondstoffen en onderdelen tot herbruikbare grondstoffen. Road2Work biedt materiaal aan Stichting OPEN voor verdere verwerking.
- PhiladelphiacoreZorgaanbieder - Samenwerking in Kampen onder naam Compu-All. Philadelphia levert cliënten en begeleiding, Road2Work levert te demonteren materiaal. Dagbesteding voor mensen met afstand tot arbeidsmarkt.
- DarcoreAfvalverwerkingsbedrijf - Samenwerking in Nijmegen onder naam Road2Work@Dar. Dar zorgt voor aanvoer en infrastructuur, Road2Work voor verwerking en re-integratie.
- ACVcoreAfvalverwerkingsbedrijf - Partner in de afvalketen voor verwerking van elektronische materialen
- ION ValleiminorInclusief Ondernemers Netwerk - Regionaal netwerk van ondernemers die werken aan inclusieve arbeidsmarkt
- WerkkrachtminorArbeidsbemiddeling partner voor het begeleiden van kandidaten naar werk
- WBRNminorArbeidsbemiddeling partner voor re-integratie diensten
- MAF BusinessclubminorMission Aviation Fellowship Businessclub - Lidmaatschap voor netwerkmogelijkheden en zakelijke contacten
- OPEN-AREA-OmrincoreSpeciale samenwerking in Emmen. Locatie draait zelfstandig onder begeleiding van Road2Work. Verwerkt circa 25.000 stuks PC's per jaar en 250 ton e-waste.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves11 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Road2Work competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Renewi: Major European waste-management company with significant Dutch operations across multiple waste streams including electronics. Comparable as a larger incumbent serving similar B2B and municipal customers in the same Dutch market.
- PreZero: European environmental services provider covering collection, sorting and recycling of multiple waste streams including electronics. Comparable as a large incumbent competitor pursuing similar circular-economy mandates across Europe.
- Umicore: Belgian materials technology and recycling group with significant precious-metals recovery from electronics. Comparable as a downstream processor of e-waste fractions and as a benchmark for recycled-material economics.
- Sims Lifecycle Services: Global IT asset disposition and e-waste recycler operating large processing facilities in Europe and the US. Comparable as a broader incumbent in electronics recycling and refurbishment, though at significantly larger scale.
- Veolia: Global waste-management and environmental services group with electronics recycling capabilities in multiple European countries. Comparable as a broad incumbent operating e-waste and resource-recovery services at much larger scale.
Others
- Bollegraaf: Dutch manufacturer of recycling machinery and sorting systems. Adjacent rather than directly competitive; relevant as a potential technology supplier that could automate elements of Road2Work's manual sorting operations.
- Emmaus: Dutch social enterprise network combining reuse, retail and workforce reintegration. Comparable as a social-enterprise peer in the reintegration-and-reuse space, though not an e-waste processor; relevant for benchmarking the social-employment operating model.
Direct peers
- Wecycle: Dutch e-waste collection and take-back foundation covering household electronics and small appliances. Directly comparable to Road2Work's collection and processing function and an active input-feedstock partner.
- Stichting OPEN: Dutch foundation that coordinates certified processing of e-waste streams, including electronics and small appliances. A direct operational partner of Road2Work, comparable in Dutch e-waste focus and circular-economy mission.
Emerging players
- Reciplas: Smaller Dutch plastics and e-waste recycler focused on circular recovery. Comparable as a smaller-scale emerging player in the Dutch e-waste/recycling segment with overlapping customer profiles.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Road2Work social profiles
Digital presenceRoad2Work compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Road2Work financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Road2Work leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Road2Work subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Road2Work funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Road2Work M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Road2Work
What does Road2Work do?
Road2Work manually disassembles and sorts electronic waste for companies, municipalities and waste-management organizations, achieving up to 95% recycling rates across more than ten material categories. Through its Road2Re-use subsidiary it refurbishes and resells laptops, white goods and other electronics. In parallel, the Re-integratie division coaches and places people with a distance to the labor market into sustainable paid employment under the Dutch Participatiewet.
Is Road2Work a public or private company?
Road2Work is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Road2Work founded?
Road2Work was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Road2Work based?
Road2Work is headquartered in Ede, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does Road2Work make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. E-waste recycling services are the primary driver. The others are refurbished electronics sales (Road2Re-use) and re-integratie begeleiding.
Who are Road2Work's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Renewi, PreZero, Umicore, Sims Lifecycle Services and Veolia. Others are Bollegraaf and Emmaus. Direct peers are Wecycle and Stichting OPEN. Reciplas is listed as an emerging player.
Does Road2Work have an API?
No public API is recorded for Road2Work.
What industry is Road2Work in?
Road2Work's product category is Electronic Waste Recycling and Re-integration Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUAIAIAA, Consumer E-waste Collection & Take-Back Programs. Its NAICS code is 56292 and its SIC code is 4953.