The country's largest plastic sorting plant now accepts 90,000 tons of waste: "A new era for plastic sorting"
From 1 October, the amount of plastic handled at Denmark's largest plastic sorting facility, Resource Denmark, will increase to 90,000 tons per year. Much of this plastic has previously been sent abroad, and the change could be the start of a new Danish recycling industry - and make Esbjerg the plastics hub of Denmark.
On October 1, EU legislation on extended producer responsibility for packaging comes into force in Denmark. This means that the responsibility for collecting, sorting and recycling Danes' packaging waste will be transferred from the municipalities to the thousands of companies that will be covered by the new legislation.
VANA, the largest collective scheme to handle corporate producer responsibility on packaging, has chosen Resource Denmark as a partner to sort a significant part of the plastic waste from Danish households, corresponding to the collective scheme's market share.
The collaboration means that tons of plastic waste previously sent abroad will now be sorted locally at Resource Denmark's facility in Esbjerg, which is the largest in Denmark. This will save the climate from CO2 emissions for unnecessary transportation across borders, and at the same time, the Danish solution will secure Danish jobs, far less waste will be sent to incineration and Danish companies will have a better opportunity to track the life cycle of their packaging.
Round-the-clock sorting and the opportunity for a Danish value chain from A-Z
As part of the preparations for October 1, Resource Denmark has increased capacity from two to three shifts and expanded the staff who keep the sorting belts running around the clock. In total, approximately 90,000 tons of plastic will now run on the conveyors, which corresponds to more than half of the plant's capacity.
With the new producer responsibility and a plant with the capacity to sort all Danish household plastics, a unique opportunity has opened up for Denmark to develop its own circular value chain for plastics. This will involve Danish factories that can handle the next link in the chain when the clean, sorted plastic from Resource Denmark is recycled into new products.
"October 1 marks the beginning of a new era for plastic sorting in Denmark. We've been preparing for a long time, and both plant and crew are fully prepared for the task ahead. It's really positive that we're now taking more responsibility for our waste here in Denmark, and it could even be the starting point for creating a complete Danish industry for sustainable plastic handling - perhaps with headquarters here in Esbjerg. The food chain is now in place, which is good news for both Denmark's climate goals and the business community," says Flemming Horn Nielsen, CEO of Resource Denmark.
He emphasizes that the foundation for such a circular Danish waste economy consists of strong collaborations across the plastics industry - like the one now coming into force between Resource Denmark and the collective scheme VANA.
"We work hard to raise the environmental bar and increase circularity in the waste area. Sorting and traceability are central to achieving these ambitions and are therefore also important criteria in our choice of partners. The agreement with Resource Denmark ensures that Danes' plastic packaging waste is sorted in Jutland and that we always know where the waste is and who receives it. In this way, on behalf of our member companies, we can pave the way for significant proportions to be sent for recycling as a resource," says Marianne Roed Jakobsen, CEO of VANA.
Contact Information
For further information, please contact:
Flemming Horn Nielsen, CEO of Resource Denmark
flemming.horn.nielsen@resourcedk.com / 53 53 53 76 44
About Resource Denmark
Resource Denmark is Denmark's largest plastic sorting plant. Based in Esbjerg, the company handles the majority of plastic waste from Danish households and has a capacity of 160,000 tons of plastic waste per year. Through an efficient sorting process that minimizes resource waste, Resource Denmark contributes to the circular economy and the recycling targets of Denmark and the EU. About VANA
VANA is Denmark's largest collective scheme for companies that become subject to producer responsibility for packaging. VANA handles the practical, financial and legal responsibility on behalf of approx. 2800 member companies. This includes collection, sorting, recycling of packaging waste and reporting to the authorities. The collective scheme was founded in 2021 by the Confederation of Danish Industry, the Danish Agriculture & Food Council, the Danish Chamber of Commerce and DagSam, and the member companies include many of the largest food producers and retail chains in Denmark