History

Two centuries of history
The roots of the company’s activities date back to the year 1818, when Pieter van Loon established himself in the small village of Vreeswijk, as an independent supplier of sand quarried from a nearby riverbed.

Pieter van Loon

The company has subsequently been handed from generation to generation and continues to grow. After the 2^nd World War, expansion was found in other materials such as fillers and flooring products. By then, silica sand was also being marketed as an abrasive for sandblasting. Gradually however, it became known that sandblasting carried a health risk through a condition of the lungs known as “silicosis”. As a result, in 1957, the Dutch government promulgated the Silicosis Law, which included the Sandblasting Decree, banning the use of (silica) sand for all sandblasting applications (in-house or outside, dry and wet alike) in The Netherlands.

By reacting swiftly to this new situation, the company has successfully managed to build up an important market position in the industry supplying a variety of abrasives that substitute and/or complement silica sand. In the early 1970s, the first export efforts were initiated based on quality, speed and service and the company has since built a worldwide reputation as a reliable source of supply for virtually every kind of abrasive. A substantial part of the business is now export-related, with the company and its products represented in almost all parts of the world.