Milgro is a Dutch waste and resource management company that takes over the full handling of a business's waste, connects each stream to the processor or reuser that gets the most value from it, and reports volumes, costs and CO₂ in one online dashboard.
About Milgro
Laurens Groen founded Milgro in Rotterdam in 1993 to get more value out of the raw materials companies use in their processes. The company has grown to a team of more than 110 people, active across the Benelux in over ten sectors, from food and retail to industry, logistics and healthcare, with a Belgian team serving clients in Belgium. Its approach is based on a patented method: Milgro treats waste as a raw material that has lost its way and matches companies that produce waste with more than 500 partners that process or reuse it. Its clients include AkzoNobel, PostNL, Erasmus MC, Verstegen, Aviko Proven and Technische Unie. Milgro says it has organised 11.1 kt CO₂ of impact through optimisations for its clients. It became a certified B Corp in 2025 with a score of 95.3, holds an EcoVadis silver rating, level 3 on the CO₂ Performance Ladder and ISO 14001 certification, and aims for a world free of waste by 2040.
They also worked with Milgro
AkzoNobel
PostNL
Verstegen
Henri
DNP
Technische Unie
What Milgro has delivered
Technische UnieWholesale & distribution
Turning loose pallet wood into chips and cutting 112 trips a year
At its distribution centre in Strijen, the installation and industry wholesaler threw unusable pallets and loose wood into containers by hand. It was slow, heavy work, and the trucks carried more than 60% air even when the containers looked full. With Milgro, the site installed a Roll-Packer that crushes the wood into chips and switched to a recycler that turns the chips into fire logs and cat litter. Each container now holds about 9,000 kg instead of 3,200 kg on average, and the work on the floor is lighter.
From incinerating plastic film to chemical recycling
The potato processor's plastic film was incinerated, which did not match its sustainability goals. Milgro and Aviko Proven found a chemical recycler, batched 20 to 24 bales per shipment to keep transport costs down, and switched to a nearby processor when a fire shut down the first plant. Balers were moved to the right spots on the production line. The site now sends 11 to 12 tonnes of film a month to recycling instead of incineration.
Purifying rinse water for reuse and pulling materials out of residual waste
At AkzoNobel's paint plants in Wapenveld, waste was handled by several processors and the HSE&S manager had to chase each one for his monthly report to headquarters. Milgro took over as single contact and now sends a complete overview on the second day of every month. It found a licensed partner that purifies the tank rinse water so it can be reused, where it used to be incinerated. Twice-yearly optimisation reviews and on-site audits moved plastic buckets, packaging film and pigment bags out of residual waste into separate collection.
The Sliedrecht manufacturer of foundation equipment produces metals, used oil and hydraulic hoses, and had to report on them publicly for the first time under the CSRD for 2025. The Milgro dashboard shows every stream with its volume and CO₂ impact, compares years and feeds the Scope 3 calculation directly. Based on that data, used oil now goes to a specialist processor, and Milgro is looking for a solution for 34.6 tonnes a year of hoses made of mixed rubber, steel and oil.
Making waste sorting the easy choice on the shop floor
The spice and sauce maker wanted to cut the share of residual waste in production. Milgro worked with shop-floor staff to find what got in the way of sorting, adjusted the signage and shared clear overviews. Label backing material now goes back to the manufacturer for new uses, and plastic buckets and lids are collected separately and turned by a partner from Milgro's network into base material for new products for Verstegen.
At one of the insulation maker's plants, a large volume of wood went out as residual waste for years because EPS foam stuck to it during production, which blocked recycling. Milgro mapped the stream in detail and found that collection and storage made the contamination worse. Its waste engineers built a business case, Isobouw adjusted its production process, and Milgro set up separate collection for a processor that turns the wood into biomass.
Wood no longer sent to residual waste
Production process adjusted to limit EPS contamination
“De datakwaliteit en –kwantiteit die Milgro biedt, maken het voor ons eenvoudiger om te voldoen aan de CSRD-eisen én onze CO₂-uitstoot beter in kaart te brengen”
Cynthia Mooij,Interim Sustainability Manager, Dieseko Group
“Ieder half jaar heb ik overleg met Milgro over optimalisaties. Daar komen interessante actiepunten uit. Het scheidingspercentage gaat steeds verder omhoog. Dat kan ik volgen in de online portal van Milgro.”
“Milgro heeft geholpen om het scheiden van afval laagdrempeliger en inzichtelijker te maken. Ze hebben met de mensen op de werkvloer onderzocht waar de belemmeringen zitten, en wat er nodig is om afval scheiden vanzelfsprekender te maken.”
Marianne van Keep,Sustainability Manager, Verstegen
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