Waste collection and processing company Van Gansewinkel is cutting its workforce by 600 between now and mid-2013, the company said on Friday.

Although some jobs will be phased out, around 300 workers in the Netherlands and Belgium face compulsory redundancy. Office and support staff will be hardest hit.
The company says the reorganisation is necessary because the economic crisis has led to lower volumes of waste. ‘The ratio between income and personnel is not in balance,’ the company statement said.
‘Van Gansewinkel is in the hands of a private equity group,’ CNV union official Tjeerd Orie told Nos television. ‘As we know, these sorts of companies cut things very fine because it is all about making money. Van Gansewinkel had better have very good arguments otherwise we will resist to the bitter end.’
Van Gansewinkel, which has 7,000 workers and turnover of €1.2bn, was bought by CVC and KKR several years ago for some €2.2bn – much of it self-financed.