Alldrain joins as an ally with the Flourishing Community, a movement that strives for a society in which local communities flourish through inclusion and connection, reciprocity and sustainable impact.
The mission of the Flourishing Community movement is to support people and communities in strengthening citizenship, self-reliance and collective action.
With co-creation, shared responsibility and innovative collaboration models, it is committed to a more just society in which every individual can use their full potential.
“What struck me when I visited Alldrain and spoke with Patricia and her colleagues,” says Peter Wuyts, coordinator of Flourishing Community, “is that the changes and developments at Alldrain seamlessly align with what contributes to the flourishing of the organization and the people who work there, the natural environment and the community of Dentergem.”
Patricia believes in turn that, just as the movement states in its mission, also strongly in the power of local communities to develop sustainable, inclusive and resilient solutions themselves.
She likes to add that she is grateful for the subsidy that Alldrain has received from the Department of Environment of the Flemish government for the initiatives they are developing within the framework of ‘SMEs in an environment for the future’.
Family business
It all started in the 1970s when Henk Van Deurzen founded the family business Alldrain in the Netherlands. The company has now been involved in the production, sale and installation of drainage pipes for two generations. In 1996, a branch opened in Dentergem for the production of drainage pipes.
Since 2019, Patricia van Deurzen has taken over the helm from her father as managing director. This is accompanied by a whirlwind of sustainable innovations and participatory projects. Alldrain is thereby deliberately investing in the transition to a company with a positive impact on a clean, healthy and safe living environment.
For this, Patricia started in the company itself after taking over the helm from her father. Alldrain is therefore a family business through and through, where the concept of ‘family’ is broadly interpreted. Employees, suppliers, customers and neighbors are also part of the family. As a result, many sustainable relationships have been built that have existed for decades.
“When I started here, I wanted to make Alldrain a company where I would really like to work myself. With plenty of room for others to enjoy working here too. We went massively into job crafting. Everyone started looking: what do I like to do, what makes me happy, what do I want to learn and what does that mean for my work in the coming years. So we actually started all over again,” Patricia says about this in a documentary that is currently being filmed.
Since 2020, the internal changes have been implemented according to the Deep Democracy principle. This means that all employees participate in decision-making.
Pioneer in raw materials transition
Another important new development is the pioneering role that Alldrain is taking in the sector in the transition from plastic to biodegradable drains.
In this development there is intensive collaboration with the polymer architects of B4Plastics.
Patricia: “We continuously invest in research and development to contribute to healthy, clean and safe soil, water and air. In our laboratory we work on new solutions that can further reduce the environmental impact of drainage. By innovating in material use and production techniques, we strive to help the sector stay one step ahead.”
This led to the launch of the Verdiflex drain.
Verdiflex is an innovative, biodegradable drainage pipe that breaks down naturally after its technical lifespan. This actively contributes to reducing microplastics and soil pollution.
In addition to the production of this bio-pipe in Dentergem, two more lines will also be started up in the Netherlands in the short term. Alldrain also supplies all associated accessories needed to install the drainage system quickly and without problems.
Neighborhood participation
For the redesign of the green area next to the buildings, an integral landscape architecture has been designed by Joachim Louis of Wood stories.
For the development of the plan, collaboration took place with neighbors, officials and people from the association life of Dentergem. This participation with the neighborhood contributes to mutual and reciprocal future-oriented, connecting and strengthening communication.
Through joint involvement, the chances of sustainability and the systemic effect are increased because it forms the basis for the design of the ecological development of the site and shared and multiple land use.
A play zone for children from the neighborhood will be provided on the grassland. Edible hedges and a belt of native forest form the link to open landscape greenery.
More than a landscape architect, Joachim sees himself as a wood artist. He created the artwork ‘When nature strikes back’ in the entrance hall of Alldrain and recently cleared the dead poplars on the company site and transformed them into benches.
Company site as impactful nature zone
In the development and production of biodegradable drainage pipes, the factory site and surroundings can form an impactful nature zone with regenerative water management, high biodiversity and multiple value creation. Now and for future generations.
In function of this new production line, a building permit has been obtained for the expansion of the factory hall and the installation of several silos.
In line with these construction plans and the commitment to sustainability and biodiversity, Alldrain has already entered into a special collaboration with Leasebees which placed beehives on the company site, thereby contributing through active pollination to increasing plant diversity and initiating ecological interaction in a zone with low biodiversity. Alldrain also participated in the “Feed the Bee” campaign and distributed 260 bags of flower seeds.
The company site was also surrounded with native hedges and forest belts in early 2022. The asphalted outdoor space at the office building will be partially replaced by vegetation. Also on a hydrological level, the company site and the grassland are connected and this will be further developed.
Also on the planning is to increase the natural value of the current factory and office building with flora and fauna. The walls of the factory lend themselves excellently to vegetation and for birds and bats to nest there.
Telling stories of pioneers
An important partner for communicating about the experimental, learning and multiplier effect of the project is cv Re-story which is also part of the allies of the Flourishing Community.
In an interview on Alldrain’s blog, Mischa Verheijden talks about the importance of telling stories about sustainability, transition and balancing a stable financial situation and social relevance.
He believes that telling stories about Alldrain’s pioneering to contribute to a positive impact on a clean, healthy and safe living environment is an inspiring example for other companies and organizations to contribute to a flourishing future.
The story of Alldrain reminds Peter Wuyts of the Flourishing Community of what he read in an article from UCLL University of Applied Sciences about the importance of developing strong entrepreneurship: ‘not with the intention of getting rich quickly or gaining power, but because entrepreneurship is essentially about making everyone’s potential productive for the benefit of the greater whole’.