Edelchemie Panheel BV

Edelchemie has the technology to dispose of problematic waste

And has done for 25 years!

Arise and development of the Edelchemie group

Nature at risc

Around 1955 people became aware of the fact that changes were about to take place in the environment. Certain Lichen species started to disappear because of increasing levels of sulphur dioxide (S02)- Insects living on the water (c.g. the whirligig beetle and the water spider) fell through the water surface as a result of diminishing surface tension and drowned. Fish species vanished from brooks and small rivers. Hardly anybody at that time paid any attention to it but Ir. L.M.M. Nevels could understand some of these cries of distress from Nature. The meaning of recycling valuable materials was taking shape in his thoughts.
As a first year student of Chemical Engineering at the Technical University of Delft he started a company for silver recovery from photographic waste materials. The company was named: Edelmetaalfabriek Gebr. Nevels. To provide the company with the most stable basis, other activities were also developed.
In 1958 a disinfection lime was produced and patented. One year later a paint was developed that could be used as an insecticide thereby reducing the normally required amount of active component by a factor of 1000.
From 1960 onwards latex paints and related products were developed and produced. Methods for regenerating spent motor oil and reclaiming thiosulphate from photographic materials were developed but lack of interest for such recycled products at that time halted further use.
To strengthen the company further Ir. Nevels taught chemistry for 10 years at the Roermond Comprehensive School thereby making it possible to invest all the proceeds back into the company.
The idea was becoming ever more obvious that reclaiming silver and other precious metals should be related to the processing of other waste materials. The concept of "integrated waste processing" or "waste-to-waste" was emerging.
In 1974 the name Edelchemie Panheel BV emerged. The name stems from the idea that chemistry is a noble science, able to provide solutions to many of mankinds problems.

Waste materials being filled into a pyrolysis oven
Through the fundamental research carried out by Ir. Nevels and his staff, the concept of integrated waste processing materialised over the following years into a practically useful method for processing the highly problematic waste from the photographic and graphic industry. This technology was called the Zero-Option technology.
The first sister company Edelchemie Heinsberg GmbH was founded and started to operate in Germany in 1978. Gradually both companies grew into medium size businesses.
From 1989 the first five patent applications were filed to protect the Zero-Option technology worldwide. The United States were the first country to grant patents in 1990 and other countries followed soon after. In the same year the Zero-Option goals for processing 12,000 tons/year of photographic waste material were met at 99 % efficiency.
In 1992 Edelchemie Dilsen Bvba introduced the Zero-Option technology in Belgium. Within two years Edelchemie became the market leader in Belgium for the treatment of photographic waste materials. Research and negotiations for the licensing of the Zero-Option technology in the Czech Republic were started.

Ir. L.M.M. Nevels with part of
the Dutch plant in the background
In 1993 the Dutch Authorities acknowledged the Zero-Option Technology as State of the Art and endorsed it as the Minimum Standard for the treatment of photographic waste in their first official long term Waste Management Plan. Edelchemie began to treat waste materials other than photographic.
In 1994 the Edelchemie (UK) offices were opened in Canterbury. Back in the Netherlands initiatives were developed to diversify operations into new markets and waste types, as the technology proved to be very useful in the treatment of other types of waste materials.
By 1995 the Zero Option Technology was protected worldwide through 90 independent patents. The Dutch plant was granted a completely new Operating Licence with a maximum capacity of 20,000 tons per year. In the Belgian town of Dilsen, a 20,000 m2 property is purchased and the Operating Licences are granted for the first phase of a new treatment plant.
In 1996 Edelchemie France SA was established as a further member of the Group. Edelchemie (UK) signs its first exclusive contract with a supplier of photochemistry in the UK. lt undertakes to provide treatment and recovery services to its customers and moves to Leicestershire to start operating a pre-treatment plant. Research is underway in the USA and Spain to establish the possibilities of starting recovery operations there or licensing the technologies to third parties. In the second long term Waste Management Plan the Zero-Option is once more endorsed as the Minimum Standard, reiterating Edelchemie's continuing lead in treatment technology, for amongst others, photographic waste.
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