A taxi that drives around in the summer months to collect yew clippings from people's homes. It may sound a bit strange but it is really a very good initiative. The Taxus Taxi Foundation collects (at least one wheelbarrow full) of yew prunings from people's homes for free. This collection can help patients suffering from cancer. The needles of the yew contain the basic raw material for chemotherapy. A small team has been working hard together since 2009 to collect as much of this trimmings as possible from people's homes.
At the end of the day, the drivers of the taxi with yew clippings drive on to the Roijkru herb drying plant in Oss, which is the drying plant where the drying process takes place. From here, the yew prunings are transported to various buyers abroad, where the substance 10-deacetylbaccatin III is extracted. This substance is one of the starting components of taxol. After the deacetyl has been converted to taxol, the liquid is packaged and distributed worldwide. In the hospitals where taxol is used, employees add it to the chemotherapy.
Despite previous reports that there will be no yew collection an adjusted yew season has started since last Saturday 25 June. Due to circumstances, however, collection will only take place this year in an adapted work area. The yew prunings can be picked up in Asten, Bernheze, Beuningen, Boekel, Deurne, Druten, Gemert-Bakel, Gennep, Helmond, Heumen, Horst aan de Maas, Laarbeek, Landerd, Land van Cuijk, Meierijstad, Mook en Middelaar, Oss, Peel and Maas, Someren, Uden, Veghel, Venray and Wijchen. Because the customer of the yew prunings can only process 125.000 kilos of prunings this year, partly due to corona, the above working area has been chosen. Once the 125.000 kilo has been reached, the collection will be stopped.
