Van Aalsburg BV from Hellouw, a small village in the West Betuwe, is a third-generation family business producing high-quality willow wood products. The company is led by six brothers. In everything the company exudes the spirit of being one big family. The first members of the new generation, the cousins, are already fully involved. True go-getters. An enthusiastic team of around one hundred employees, who are leading the way in the Netherlands and far beyond by constantly innovating.
When you say Van Aalsburg, you think of willow wood. From this raw material, they make fences, raised beds, bank protection, fascines, natural islands, and sand screens, among other things, to protect dunes against water and wind. The Gelderland family business has its own nursery totaling 175 hectares and sources willows from the Biesbosch—another 100 hectares—for Staatsbosbeheer, among others. “Grandpa and father still pollarded willows the old-fashioned way with a machete, subsequently hauling the cuttings through marshy terrain to the pruning site. Incredibly heavy and intensive work,” recalls Dick van Aalsburg.
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Within the management team, Dick van Aalsburg is a co-driver of innovation, both in terms of product deployment and within the entire business operation. Van Aalsburg is working hard on a sustainable future to preserve nature and biodiversity. Over 1,200 solar panels are installed on the roofs of the modern company building in Hellouw, and the generated electricity is ideal for further greening the machinery fleet. All equipment is electric or equipped with a sustainable power source that often runs on HVO100 biodiesel, which reduces CO2 emissions by up to 90%.
“Our aim is to work with nature rather than against and deplete our precious earth. By thinking innovatively and offering environmentally friendly solutions in hard-to-reach locations, we want to be able to work sustainably everywhere: from Suriname to Latvia and from England to Ivory Coast.” In terms of electric equipment, Van Aalsburg possesses many battery-powered chainsaws, two auxiliary boats, a 23-ton crawler excavator, a 9-ton midi excavator, and put an electric DX165W mobile excavator into operation via Staad a year and a half ago.
The 17-ton mobile excavator proves its worth here every day. Not on landscaping projects, but on their own premises. That can certainly be called unique. “We consider it important to go green in every possible way, for example by replacing diesel-powered machines with electric ones,” explains Dick. “The DX165W is mainly used to pick up bundles of willow branches for further processing, but also for loading trucks. The machine easily runs ten to twelve hours a day.”
Our aim is to work with nature instead of working against and depleting our precious earth.
To ensure sufficient working range, the electric material handling machine is equipped with a 3-meter jib fitted with a rotating tree clamp. Furthermore, Staad has installed several luxury options, such as a running board along the entire left side of the cab, a broom holder on the box undercarriage, BMair overpressure preparation, Wiejelo automatic lubrication, a combi-drawbar with both a drawbar and a ball hitch, and Alliance dual-tire agricultural tires. “I am very pleased with the machine. The controls work smoothly and precisely, and maintenance is negligible.”
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The Powerbox 400 is charged using its own green electricity, which is stored in a 1 MWh battery container. Van Aalsburg has four fast chargers and also five 125 kWh battery packs. “We were a bit skeptical at first, because our electric midi excavator can run for 6 hours at best,” says Dick. “However, Staad has its act together, resulting in a good range and a satisfied operator. If there is ever a breakdown, I have to hang up the phone quickly, otherwise they are already here on the yard. Even on Saturdays or Sundays.”
We consider it important to go green in every possible area, for example by replacing machines with a diesel engine with electric ones.
The Gelderland-based family business has the ambition to electrify a significant portion of its fleet within ten years and use much less geotextile. Van Aalsburg primarily serves the hydraulic engineering sector in the Netherlands (75%) and Belgium (20%), but also far beyond. Three-quarters of the willow wood used as natural bank protection comes from Hellouw. Dick saw this craft flourish again ten to fifteen years ago. “All that concrete and plastic in the ground, that couldn't go on like that. This is a quintessentially Dutch product that has been used for 300 years.”
Van Aalsburg’s reed beds absorb 8,100 tonnes of CO2 annually, 80% of which is sequestered underwater. Add to that emission-free harvesting and processing, and the products earn a respectable green label. “That needs to be even better. The geotextile for the sinker mats is synthetic and contains microplastics. In collaboration with Van Oord, we are now testing a variant based on jute and wool to further reduce our CO2 footprint. Our aim is to achieve the greatest possible impact with minimal burden. That offers an advantage not only during the bidding process, but in a much broader sense.”
This article was published in Grondwerk Magazine, Summer 2026 edition. Would you like to receive this beautiful magazine as well? Then click here.
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