With over 64 years of experience and expertise in designing (inclusive) play areas, activity spaces and sports facilities, we deliver our services and products both nationally and internationally.
CSR Annual Report
We formalised our CSR policy in 2013. Each year, we prepare an annual report to show accountability to our stakeholders. We publish the CSR annual report on our website and share it through our monthly newsletter.
Our Work
We create the biggest social impact through our daily work. We contribute to the healthy development of children and adults by delivering attractive play and sports areas. We also involve end users in planning these play spaces and give people with fewer opportunities the chance to work in our company as part of our active ‘social return’ policy. Additionally, we provide a safe and trusted environment for our employees, with employment conditions set out in a company collective agreement. We encourage their development by offering varied work and training opportunities.
Our Company
Within our company, we actively contribute to improving society. We are one of the few playground equipment suppliers with our own production facility in the Netherlands. We also keep the assembly and delivery of play and activity equipment under our own management. This promotes employment in the Netherlands and guarantees our expertise in play and movement. We aim to do business with local
suppliers as much as possible, which helps reduce traffic congestion and CO2 emissions.
Our company also supports local initiatives where possible and plays an educational role for schools in our area. We offer project supervision and various placement opportunities to enhance students’ practical experience.
Our World
We also contribute globally. We hold certifications for ISO 9001, ISO 14001, KOMO and VCA*, and we produce with environmental awareness, focusing on reducing waste streams. When we design our equipment, we consider recyclability and strive for continuous improvement.
In the 1980s, we became the first company in the world to manufacture playground equipment from recycled plastic. Our wooden playground equipment carries FSC® certification.
As an active member of the Play & Movement Industry Association and the NEN-1176 standards committee for playground equipment and NEN-1177 for impact-absorbing surfaces, we have contributed to developing the WAS and NEN-1176. Through this work, we commit ourselves to safe play spaces.
Willem Butz Managing Director
Our mission
Our mission is to make public spaces attractive by designing fun play and sports areas. We invite everyone to be more active outdoors. When people go outside to be active, they meet each other more easily. This promotes social cohesion and increases liveability in the neighbourhood, which generates sustainable engagement with people’s own environment. We take positive values as our starting point, such as teamwork, discovery, developing motor skills and risk competencies, respect and nature, with strong attention to social aspects. We consider outdoor play important in the fight against obesity.
When we challenge people as children and they become used to being active, they will
do this more naturally and easily throughout the rest of their lives. We therefore consider it important that all types of children in all age groups receive invitations and challenges to play outside.
The pace of a child’s development depends on brain maturation. Children therefore need to play, move and gain experiences often. Our senses are our contact with the outside world.
Children play, learn and experience through their senses.
We face the challenge of creating an environment where they can develop their natural curiosity.
Energiser
“I move like lightning, just try to keep up with me! Let me bounce around and express myself freely. And who’s the fastest? Me, of course. I don’t like sitting still, I need space to do my thing.”
Rough-and-tumble players need lots of free and undefined space. They prefer areas with competitive elements and differences in height. Here they can excel and perform.
Structure seeker
“Playing is the best thing ever! Give me something to play with or something to do, and I’ll entertain myself. And when we play together, it becomes really fun. If we have a nice place to meet up together, that works perfectly. Come on, let’s not waste time and start right away.
Social players need an environment where they can gather with others and which has a welcoming layout.
4 types of players
Builder Observer
“Look, I made this all by myself! Beautiful, isn’t it? With whatever I can find around me, I build the most wonderful creations. You learn by trying. I experiment freely. And if I wander off course sometimes, something even more beautiful often emerges!”
Builders need open space with opportunities for free expression and interpretation.
“Leave me alone... I’m sitting here so nicely. Can I stay a bit longer? I was just doing a really fun game. You just said we would stay for 5 more minutes, didn’t you? Well, those aren’t over yet so we can’t go home.”
“Leave me alone... I’m sitting here so nicely. Can I stay a bit longer? I was just doing a really fun game. You just said we would stay for 5 more minutes, didn’t you? Well, those aren’t over yet so we can’t go home.”
Play and movement are essential for children
A play area is more than a collection of equipment. Children want to play in an environment with space for their own interpretation and enough opportunities to do what suits their stage of development, with literal space to go their own way. When we design a play area, we integrate the play equipment and the surrounding grounds into one whole and we consider the four play types of children: rough-and-tumble players, social players, builders and observers.
A good play environment stimulates cognitive, motor, social, physical and emotional development. In our design, we give children
Sensorimotor
freedom for their own imagination and we also encourage them to investigate, explore boundaries, develop risk competencies, be inventive and take on challenges. Natural play areas stimulate what children do naturally: create their own play.
We consider age categories, development, possible limitations and disabilities, the play character and the play needs of boys and girls. By creating a varied and inclusive play environment, we ensure that every child gets the chance to play and develop in a safe and challenging way.
Cognitive
Handling incoming impulses and the progression of movements from head to toes. Emotional
Physical
Muscle development, bone strength, physique, and endurance.
In 2013, we drew up a code of conduct with clear guidelines:
1. No forced labour or child labour.
2. No discrimination against employees.
3. Freedom for employees to form associations.
4. Right to collective labour negotiations.
5. Payment of a fair wage.
6. We must compensate overtime with pay or time off.
7. All employees must have a legal employment contract.
We regularly evaluate our processes against this code of conduct during management reviews. We have found no deviations.
The code of conduct applies to our business operations and to the business operations of our suppliers. We expect them to follow these rules as well. We check annually whether our suppliers comply with the code of conduct and have found no deviations this year either.
We have certified our quality assurance and management system according to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and VCA*. With these certifications, we meet the highest standards for quality and environmental management.
Certifications Forest Protection
Additionally, we hold classification at level 5 of the CO2 Performance Ladder. We work actively on reducing our CO2 emissions and promoting sustainability in all our activities.
We only use FSC®-certified wood for our wooden products. This way, we ensure that we manage the forests where our wood comes from in a sustainable way, with respect for the natural environment and the animals that live there.
We manage FSC®-certified concessions carefully, which means we divide the forest into cutting zones. After cutting 3 to 5 trees per hectare, we leave a cutting zone untouched for at least 25 to 30 years. We identify and protect important areas before exploitation against activities, such as habitats of rare animals, sacred places for local communities, or water sources. We also consider the interests of the local population, and employees receive a fair income.
Specifying and using certified wood protects a forest area and contributes to sustainable forest management. We can obtain certified wood at an attractive price, and the more demand we develop together, the more forest we manage sustainably. FSC® managed forests have a low environmental impact and wood, including hardwood, has a relatively low CO² footprint compared to other materials. Research agency Beco (2013) has demonstrated that hardwood is an environmentally friendly material for building constructions.
Wooden products contribute to reducing greenhouse gases and combating climate change.
Sustainability
Our society develops continuously based on advancing insights. We take active part in social debate and anticipate social developments by being flexible in our business operations. Current social issues that we anticipate include climate adaptation, biodiversity, heat stress, water retention, lack of physical activity, increase in short-sightedness in children, development of risk competencies, lack of space and urban expansion, learning needs, CO2 reduction and circularity.
Liveability
Creating a challenging play area that attracts many visitors contributes to the liveability of a neighbourhood and its surroundings. It stimulates encounters and social interactions, where people can meet and get to know each other. Such a play area promotes sustainable engagement and goes beyond simply placing a few pieces of play equipment. It focuses on creating an attractive space where we challenge and stimulate all children.
When we design play spaces, we focus on the context and give more attention to greenery and landscape. Since we took over the
landscaping company VISSERgroen in 2017, we have integrated the expertise in greenery and green design even more into our designs. This enables us to develop play areas that are not only fun, but also harmonise with the natural environment and the needs of the community.
Sustainability & Employment
We believe strongly in the future of the manufacturing industry in the Netherlands. For us, sustainability equals employment, and we are proud of the 120 colleagues who work with us, through which we contribute to a thriving society. Play equipment forms an integral part of the play landscapes that we create. As one of the few suppliers, we produce and assemble this equipment in the Netherlands.
Our belief in the future of the Dutch manufacturing industry remains strong, because we keep investing in innovation and flexibility. We aim to continue providing employment for Dutch society in the long term.
SROI
As part of our SROI initiative (Social Return on Investment), we undertake various activities to provide employment for people who are distant from the labour market. We have agreements with various parties to carry out infrastructure work, such as green maintenance work, laying artificial grass and various groundwork, in collaboration with different sheltered employment companies. Additionally, we have employed a WAJONG recipient for quite some time and we work together with parties that provide employment for people who are distant from the labour market.
We are a recognised training company and in 2024 we guided a BBL student towards becoming a metalworker.
To stay in touch with the needs of future generations, we organise workshops several times a year with pupils from organisations including Technasia. These workshops give us valuable insights and inspiration. Additionally, we facilitate BOERtalks (informative workshops) for our clients.
In 2024, we collaborated with a large group of first-year students from the international
programme at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. As part of a design project, they developed inclusive, circular play equipment aimed at an older target group (10+). We also guided four secondary school pupils from Cals College in Nieuwegein with their master project, in which they investigated how we could make a playground in Houten more inclusive.
Furthermore, we have partnerships with two social enterprises that provide employment for people who are distant from the labour market and make certain components for our play equipment:
• Pantar, a social enterprise in Amsterdam
• BVS Sociaal Metaal BV in Veenendaal
Our clients also contribute to these efforts. When they purchase a certain volume, they automatically receive a free bee hotel from a social enterprise (bijenhotelkopen.nl) when we create natural play and activity areas and care gardens. This is just one example of our collaborations where delivering a social contribution as part of projects takes centre stage.
Business Operations and R-strategy
Business Operations and R-strategy
We direct our business operations towards applying the R-strategy: Reduce, Repair, Re-use and Recycle, with the goal of preventing waste, extending lifespan, reusing materials and highquality recycling of raw materials and materials. Besides developing play equipment, we also apply the R-strategy when we design play areas. We aim to use materials that are already available at the intended location, where we reuse these materials with the same function or an adapted function. Examples of this include play or sports equipment, greenery (shrub removal) and paving materials.
Supply-oriented design:
The sustainability of a play area shows itself in both the materials we use and the intensity of use. We characterise an attractive play area by a varied range of play types, movement options per age category, climate adaptation, greening and biodiversity.
Reduce - design:
We aim for a long lifespan for our play equipment by developing it with high-quality materials, such as stainless steel, aluminium and plastic, which can even have a lifespan of more than 30 years. By designing smartly, we reduce the environmental impact of our products.
Re-use - Circular:
Because we design and develop ourselves, we can easily reuse components from existing equipment to prevent loss of value. When we reuse materials, we make no compromises on the safety standards or play value of our equipment.
Repair - easy to repair:
We have designed our play equipment with removable and interchangeable modules, which means we can easily repair any damage or wear by replacing the relevant modules. We can refurbish or recycle replaced parts to a high standard.
Recycling:
Since 1981, we have used recycled plastic in our products. Besides recycled plastic, other materials that we use, such as stainless steel, aluminium and steel, are already recycled. To ensure that the material’s properties are optimal, we add between 10 – 30% virgin material. Since 2022, we have also produced play equipment with plastic posts that we manufacture from recycled artificial grass (green matter), with which we contribute to reducing artificial grass waste. We separate our production waste and cutting loss and offer these separated materials to our suppliers for high-quality reuse.
Take-back and Reuse
We increasingly take back our own equipment free of charge at the end of their lifecycle, with the goal of reusing valuable raw materials. When we reuse materials, we make no compromises in the area of safety (according to the EN 1176 standard) or play value.
1. Raw material prices show a rising trend, and we expect them to become increasingly scarce and expensive. Therefore, we have been working for years on adapting our business operations in collaboration with our entire chain.
2. We can separate the components from the technical and biological cycles from each other without needing extra substances or materials that we cannot reuse.
Examples
3. All materials that we use are of high quality. We only recycle wood.
4. Many of the materials that we use lend themselves excellently to high-quality reuse, such as metal, stainless steel and plastic
5. We have a long tradition of using recycled materials and recycling our waste streams. After separation, we return the different materials to our suppliers for high-quality reuse.
By using recycled plastic, we make optimal use of raw materials. When this equipment reaches the end of its lifespan, we recycle it again and we can use that material once more in new equipment.
When we design play areas, we use a supply-driven approach, where we inventory and reuse existing materials in the new design, such as 30x30 tiles for creating an outdoor classroom or grandstand.
By reusing two slides in a newly designed piece of equipment, we created more play value for the total budget.
By reusing existing water play equipment and a seesaw, we created more play value for the total budget.
By refurbishing old slides from the Municipality of Groningen and incorporating them into existing play equipment designs, we give them a new life.
Houten
Environmental Effects
The materials that we use for our play and sports equipment have an impact on the environment, from extracting the raw materials through to the production process, transport to the factory, the production itself, transport of the finished product to the customer, and ultimately what happens when we can no longer use it, such as recycling or waste processing. Our play and sports equipment go through a lifecycle from cradle to gate to use to grave. Each phase in this cycle impacts the environment. The lifecycle analysis provides an environmental profile, with information about environmental impact. This environmental profile, or environmental product declaration, or Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) contains specific data about environmental performance indicators, such as CO2 emissions, energy and water consumption, air and water pollution that we collect and analyse according to established standards and guidelines, such as ISO 14025 and the European standard NEN-EN 15804+A2.
The Four Phases of a Lifecycle Analysis
1. Cradle: The starting point of the lifecycle, where we extract or produce raw materials. It includes all activities that we need to obtain and/or produce the required materials. In this phase, we look at the impact on ecosystems, energy consumption, emissions, etc.
2. Gate: The “gate” phase includes everything up to the point where the product leaves the factory gate and covers the production processes, manufacturing, packaging, etc. This phase focuses on the impact of production activities, energy consumption during manufacturing, emissions and other environmental effects that we directly connect with the production process.
3. Use: This phase covers the period when we use the product. Here we look at any maintenance needs, energy consumption during use and other activities related to using the product.
4. Grave: The “grave” phase covers the end of the product’s lifespan, either the disposal, processing, recycling, reuse or landfill of the product after we can no longer use it. Here we look at the impact of waste management, such as emissions from incineration, recycling processes and the possible environmental effects of landfilling waste.
Minimising the impact
We have analysed the lifecycle (LCA) of our products from “Cradle to Gate”, including “End of Life” (table 1) and we have prepared an environmental profile (Environmental Product Declaration, EPD) according to ISO 14205 / EN 15804+A2. In the EPD, we have recorded the impact of 13 environmental impact indicators, such as CO2 etc. We weigh these 13 indicators against a shadow price for the social compensation costs, the so-called Environmental Cost Indicator (MKI) (see table 2).
Table 1 - Analysis modules: x = carried out | ND = not carried out
1. Global warming kg CO2-eq
We calculate the Environmental Cost Indicator (MKI) according to the NMD Determination Method version 1.1 March 2022. A lower MKI value means lower costs to compensate for the negative environmental effects. The MKI serves as our driving force to improve our choices for design, production and purchasing.
We strive to minimise our environmental impact, because we do not want to confront the children who are now growing up with our play areas later with the consequences of irresponsible choices that we make now. From 2027, we will calculate the environmental impact over the full lifecycle “cradle to grave”.
SGS Intron BV has validated the calculation methods that we have prepared.
Indicator of the potential global warming as a result of greenhouse gas emissions into the air.
2. Ozone depletion kg CFC-11eq Indicator of emissions into the air that cause the destruction of the stratospheric ozone layer.
3. Acidification of soil and water kg SO2-eq
Indicator of the possible acidification of soils and water as a result of releasing gases such as nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides.
4. Eutrophication kg PO4 3−-eq Indicator of the enrichment of the aquatic ecosystem with nutritional elements, as a result of emitting nitrogen or phosphorus-containing compounds.
5. Photochemical ozone creation kg etheneeq Indicator of the emission of gases that influence the formation of photochemical ozone in the lower atmosphere (smog) catalysed by sunlight.
6. Depletion of abiotic resourceselements kg Sb-eq Indicator of the depletion of natural non-fossil resources.
7. Depletion of abiotic resourcesfossil fuels MJ Indicator of the depletion of natural fossil fuels.
8. Human toxicity 1,4-DCB-eq Impact on humans of toxic substances that we emit into the environment (Dutch version of EN15804 only).
9. Freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity 1,4-DCB-eq
Impact on freshwater organisms of toxic substances that we emit into the environment (Dutch version of EN15804 only).
10. Marine aquatic ecotoxicity 1,4-DCB-eq/ sup> Impact on seawater organisms of toxic substances that we emit into the environment (Dutch version of EN15804 only).
11. Terrestrial ecotoxicity 1,4-DCB-eq Impact on land organisms of toxic substances that we emit into the environment (Dutch version of EN15804 only).
12. Water pollution m3 Indicator of the amount of water that we need to dilute toxic elements that we emit into water or soil (French version of EN15804 only).
13. Air pollution
3 Indicator of the amount of air that we need to dilute toxic elements that we emit into the air (French version of EN15804 only). Tabel 2 - Source: https://ecochain.com/nl/
Circular Design
We minimise our raw material consumption and reduce waste through the recyclability of our products. Since 1980, we have used recycled plastic as the basis for many of our play equipment pieces, which we manufacture from household and industrial waste streams.
• Our designs guarantee quality and a long lifespan of more than 20 years, with plastic and metal equipment lasting even longer. We aim for a minimum number of components and limit their variety, which not only makes exchanging them with each other easier, but also offers advantages in the areas of stock and management.
• We meet sustainability criteria established by VRO and we create an equipment booklet for each piece with detailed information about the materials we use. In our ERP system, we have a complete inventory of all components per piece of equipment, including technical and biological cycles.
• Our materials are poison-free and splinterfree, comply with EC directives for paint products and contain a maximum of 300 grams of VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) per litre of paint.
• After separation, we send materials such as plastic posts, HDPE and LDPE, metal and stainless steel back to our suppliers for reuse.
We have designed our ranges in a modular way, which means we can easily adapt equipment, even after installation. Thanks to this modularity, we can easily exchange materials and easily repair, replace and then recycle parts and modules when they suffer damage or wear. This way we lower the life-cycle costs and extend the lifespan of our products.
At the end of the lifecycle, we take back the equipment free of charge and we process the materials without loss of quality. We also investigate new sustainable options, such as recycled artificial grass posts in our Basic Play range, which we launched in 2021.
Since the third quarter of 2020, we have applied black-core HDPE panels, where the core consists of recycled plastic and the outer sides consist of new material.
Customer Satisfaction
Each year, we commit ourselves to evaluating our customers’ experience with our products and services. Our goal is to gain deep insight into their experiences, address any bottlenecks and continuously improve our business processes. Recently, we conducted a comprehensive survey among 238 customer relationships with whom we did business in 2024.
In 2024, our overall customer satisfaction reached a score of 8.5, which is an improvement compared to the previous year. We are pleased with this positive trend and we have worked closely with our customers to understand the results and take appropriate measures. We have carefully analysed and incorporated the feedback and suggestions that we received into our improvement process.
To ensure transparency and openness, we shared a summary of the survey results in the newsletter for the second quarter of 2024.
Furthermore, we discussed the results extensively during our management meetings, where we developed strategies to further improve customer satisfaction. We are determined to provide our customers with an excellent experience and we will continue to strive for improvement in all areas of our service delivery.
Customer Satisfaction 2024
8,5
Training
We place high priority on promoting professional development. Therefore, we implement an annual training plan each year that we specifically tailor to the needs of each employee.
• For new team members, the journey begins with an introductory course on the safety of play equipment and play spaces. This course provides essential knowledge and guidelines to ensure a safe working environment.
• Our installation teams and authorised partners who install Robinia play equipment have recently completed a refresher course regarding the safety of play equipment and play spaces. This training is crucial to stay up to date with the latest safety standards and practices.
• To ensure that our production department continues to operate safely and efficiently, employees recently received a refresher course on working safely with forklifts. This training helps reduce risks and improve overall safety in the workplace.
• Our Company Emergency Response Officers (BHV officers) have also completed a refresher course to maintain their skills and knowledge. This ensures that they can respond adequately in emergency situations and can guarantee the safety of all employees.
• Within our company, an employee has successfully completed the FSC training. This training focuses on the new standard for FSC trademarks. This trained employee is therefore authorised to carry out internal checks regarding the use of the FSC certification mark, according to the guidelines of FSC-STD-50-001 V2-1.
• Finally, our drivers have successfully obtained their C driving licence, which further strengthens their capacity and professionalism as drivers. This enables them to deliver our products safely and on time, which is essential for our operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Sickness Absence and Accidents
The sickness absence percentage has increased from 4.33 to 5.41% compared to 2023.
In 2024, we had one impact incident. Following this accident, we developed and discussed a specific toolbox.
We work continuously on a safe working environment and therefore we make every effort to prevent accidents.
Environmental objectives
Each year, we establish sustainability objectives and monitor these closely. Our KAM coordinator reports the results every quarter. This year, we have had no environmental incidents.
In 2022, we set concrete targets for reducing CO2 emissions, which we wanted to achieve by 2025 at the latest, namely:
1. BOERplay wants to achieve 20% less CO2 per million turnover in 2025 compared to 2019.
Status at end of 2024: reduction of 50.7%. We have achieved this objective.
2. BOERplay wants to achieve 25% less CO2 per million turnover regarding scope 1 emissions in 2025 compared to 2022. Status end of 2024: reduction of 26.4%. We have achieved this objective.
Waste
We have a long tradition of using recycled material and recycling our waste streams. After separation, we return the different materials to our suppliers for reuse or we offer the material, specifically registered, as a specific waste stream.
Thanks to these measures, we have reduced our business waste per tonne (see table), despite an increase in our turnover volume of 10% since 2015.
Since 2018, the volume of our business waste has risen. This is mainly because we take back
3. BOERplay wants to emit less than 10.0 tonnes of CO2 emissions regarding scope 2 emissions in 2025 compared to 2022. Status end of 2024: more than 40 tonnes of CO2 reduction. We have achieved this objective.
Gas and Electricity
We regularly monitor gas and electricity consumption and we have established KPIs for both. We heat our production facility with wood waste. In 2024, we saw a trend of declining gas consumption, with a decrease of 0.23% compared to 2023, taking into account the number of degree days.
Good to know that we use 100% green electricity, so it is CO2-free.
equipment from play areas – both our own and from third parties – when we redesign them. The old equipment from third parties is often not suitable for recycling, which means we must dispose of it as waste. This contributes to the increase in our business waste.
In 2024, we additionally collected extra waste from completed play areas to keep the environment clean. Furthermore, our turnover has increased over the years, which has also led to a larger amount of waste.
