BST x KMSKA: every ending is a new beginning
“At our facility, something comes in as waste and leaves again as raw material,” says Caroline Craenhals, CEO of Belgian Scrap Terminal (BST). “Metal has an infinite life cycle. We make sure that materials are transformed back into pure single streams and thus get a second life.”
Recycling runs in Caroline’s blood. As a fourth-generation leader, she heads a family business deeply rooted in Flanders, yet playing on the international stage. “Each generation in my family has done the same, always in a way that suited the times. Where my grandfather mainly viewed metal from a functional perspective, today we build further with a focus on technology and innovation. You see the same in art: successive generations of artists always bring a new interpretation. The masterpieces of yesterday remain relevant even today.”
Connecting old and new
BST is extending its partnership with KMSKA for another three years this year. The connection is clear: “We turn endings into new beginnings. KMSKA looks at a centuries-old collection through a contemporary lens, creating links with today’s art. Even in the building itself—the interplay of old and new—I recognize what we do every day in recycling. We connect past and future.”
Choosing a cultural partnership is not an obvious move for a tough industrial sector like recycling, but that’s precisely what makes it valuable. “Art brings a softness to an environment that is often seen as harsh. It allows us to tell our story in a different way and make it more accessible. At the same time, we learn from how the museum creatively brings people together. At Club Fouquet, you meet entrepreneurs from entirely different sectors. Standing together in front of a work of art, you talk differently than at a traditional networking event. It inspires and broadens your perspective.”
The Baptism of Christ - Peter Paul Rubens
Art and metal: an eternal attraction
That art and metal often find each other, Caroline knows from experience. “Our leftover materials attract artists. From old plates of the Atomium that ended up here for recycling, the artist Alessandro Tardiolo created a Gyratom – an interpretation of Professor Barabas’ Gyronef helicopter from Suske en Wiske. The Gyratom even stood atop the Belgian pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai.”
When you drive onto the BST site in the Port of Antwerp, you are greeted by a work by Pierre Culot. “My father sometimes asked artists who were looking for materials here to create a work of art in exchange, and today that’s truly an added value. Technical and art schools in the region use our materials, regularly experimenting with painting techniques on old car wrecks. Photographers can’t get enough of it either. Metal has an irresistible attraction. You always find a new perspective. It inspires, stimulates, and surprises.”
Seeing beauty in every work
This year, BST is not celebrating a milestone like in 2022, when the partnership was launched in honor of their 100th anniversary. Yet, the collaboration with the museum remains enthusiastically alive. “We see the partnership as a form of social engagement, but also as an added opportunity for our employees, our clients, and our international partners. I enjoy taking them to the museum or to an event. It’s wonderful to surprise them with unexpected parallels between art and the recycling sector. Fresh conversations and ideas emerge from that. I hope that in three years I can say again that the partnership holds the same value as it does today.”
When asked whether she still considers Rubens’ 'The Baptism of Christ' her favorite work from the collection, as she did three years ago, Caroline answers refreshingly: “Last time I chose that impressive masterpiece because it was the very first work to be hung after the museum’s long renovation. Now I notice that I approach the collection more openly and no longer want to pick a favorite. Every piece – big or small – tells a fascinating story. And again, there’s a parallel with our work: every piece of material has a history, and we give it a new purpose.”
