PeelPioneers – a circular solution for orange peels

A world of difference

250 million kilogrammes of orange peels are thrown away in the Netherlands every year. These come primarily from supermarkets and the catering industry, after the production of fresh orange juice. In the past, these peels were often discarded with regular GFT (vegetable, fruit and garden) waste. What a waste! Orange peels can be put to good use again as a raw material. Thanks to PeelPioneers' collaboration with Renewi, there is now a circular solution for orange peels.

Thanks in part to collaborations, PeelPioneers went from start-up to scale-up

'From the beginning of PeelPioneers, in 2017, we have been working with a number of parties,' explains Bas van Wieringen, co-owner and founder of PeelPioneers. 'That has been very important for the development of our business.'

'To build a factory, we needed money. Investors really liked the idea, but they wanted to see that we had supply and sales in place. So we concluded contracts with Jumbo (...) and recycling specialist Renewi, among others, and with that we went to investors.' One year later, PeelPioneers secured an investment of almost 1 million Euros, using it to build a processing plant in Son. That way, PeelPioneers grew from start-up to scale-up.

Within this circular solution, Renewi developed the logistics concept for collecting the discarded peels from customers throughout the Netherlands, transporting them to the plant.

From orange peel to new raw material

Since 2021, PeelPioneers has been processing over 50,000 kilos of peel a day into essential oils and citrus fibre at their Peel factory in Den Bosch. The oil is used in foods such as beer and muffins, in detergents such as dishwashing liquid and in cosmetics such as body soap bars and effervescent balls. Our Finix citrus fibre is used in meat substitutes, in sauces, as a replacement for e-numbers and as a scrub in cosmetics products, among other things.