ABOUT US SUSTAINABILITY ACTIVITIES PRODUCTS REGIONS CAREERS CONTACT Our journey Raf Van Gorp founded Ravago in 1961 when he had the opportunity to buy the premises of a dynamite company in Arendonk, Belgium. This enabled him to work out the luminous idea he had: recycling production waste from the plastics producing petrochemical companies. From there, Ravago grew into a comprehensive service provider to the petrochemical industry, constantly pushing the boundaries of plastics applications and bringing the (re)use of plastics to a next level, with sustainability continuously on our mind. Over the years, the ambition of global expansion and market leadership in polymer and chemical distribution, recycling and compounding, and building materials, became a reality. 1961 1966 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2008 2010s Poudreries Réunies de Belgique - 1961 When Raf Van Gorp started working as a clerk in Poudreries Réunies de Belgique (PRB), a subsidiary of the former Generale Maatschappij van België, he probably didn’t realize that this gunpowder factory would become the geographical fundament of his own industrial dream. Working in a sub-division of a large Belgian conglomerate, it wasn’t long before Raf began operating on an independent basis. Benefiting from the commercial and financial relations of the company he was working in, his early activities consisted of buying and selling industrial waste outside working hours. "We had to do more with every penny we earned." Scrap was Raf’s first choice. All kinds of finished products were stored in the first warehouse in de Hokken (Arendonk, Belgium): leftovers from cardboard and paper, fabric from old chairs and used buckets. Items that seemed useless in the eyes of the world were perceived as business opportunities by the young entrepreneur. He provided what people asked for but added a personal touch. What began as a casual job, selling from door to door, turned into something more official when Raf Van Gorp decided to direct his activities from his garage in a rented house. "We have to forget our perception of wealth. The purchasing power of those days isn’t imaginable today." A suitable correlation for the concept of setting up a business in the 1960s is perhaps that of managing a family: Raf Van Gorp’s first colleagues were people he knew so trust wasn’t an issue. They included fellow staff from PRB, card-playing friends, family members: all were granted the same level of trust to come and join him in his modest enterprise. In spite of their normal everyday jobs, these people were grateful for the opportunity offered to them: they sought contact with potential customers, while the founder of Ravago was creating ties with future suppliers. As solidarity grew between the colleagues - they felt part of the same secret family - so did the enterprise as a whole. The search for materials on the fringes of the industry was gradually expanded by introducing first choice products in the portfolio: polyethylene film, PVC pipes and new flooring were adopted in the improving business. "To lead means to create trust and then carry out a number of controls." Growth is the only way to survive: this has consequences both for natural and legal persons. In the early years, survival was obviously a more important premise than growth: Ravago was created with a starting capital of BEF 100,000 (equal to EUR 2,480) and high financial leverage. If we compare Ravago’s initial position with today’s situation, growth has resulted in continuous expansion and reorganization: this strategy was inherited from Ravago’s beginnings. As the first garage became too small for the enterprise’s large-scale ambitions, warehouses were rented in the centre of Arendonk in order to stock all kinds of materials. The lack of industrial equipment during the first five years – the only permanent asset was a Volkswagen (plus a trailer) contributed by the founder in the memorandum of association in 1960 – meant that the Ravago family had to work hard, in all senses of the word, in order to earn every penny and respect in the market in which they operated in. It was over ten years before they bought the first fork-lift truck. the memorandum of association aerial view of the original site producing the first polyethylene pipes Want to take part in our journey? Ravago is continuously on the lookout for new talent! Discover our vacancies or apply spontaneously > ABOUT US ACTIVITIES REGIONS PRODUCTS CAREERS CONTACT © 2021 Ravago Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use This website uses cookies to provide you the best experience. By clicking the “I agree” button, you are consenting to receive and store cookies from our site. More Info I Agree