Two new companies are being launched: Loop Electronic A/S is established by Elretur and Stena Recycling A/S, while Electronic Reuse & Recycling A/S is established by Elretur and HJHansen Recycling Group.
When you take a washing machine or a laptop to a recycling centre, almost all materials are recycled to make new products. But before that happens, as many products as possible should be reused, so the product re-emerges in the same form and with the same function as before.
The FtG initiative – Preparation for Reuse – is intended to extend the life cycles of Danish products. The purpose of the two new facilities is to enable large-scale identification and sorting, so that a much larger share of Denmark’s discarded electronics can leave the waste stream and return to the market after repair and cleaning – with a minimum six-month guarantee and a two-year right of return.
With the new facilities, Elretur goes far beyond the responsibility imposed on producers through Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Stena Recycling, HJHansen Recycling Group and Elretur want to use their combined capabilities to take on further societal responsibility for the climate and environmental impact of electrical and electronic products.
“This is not a responsibility we have been assigned. It is a task we are taking on because it is the right thing to do, and because we can see that we can move one step closer to the core of the circular economy by extending the lifetime of products,” says Morten Harboe-Jepsen, CEO of Elretur.
All of this will be made possible by the two First Treatment facilities, the first of their kind in Denmark. They support Denmark’s ambitions for a strong circular economy and UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 on responsible consumption and production.
Electronic Reuse & Recycling A/S will be located in Middelfart, while Loop Electronic A/S will be located in Roskilde. Both sites have good infrastructure and are close to treatment facilities.
“To identify the most optimal processes, we have spent a considerable amount of time testing different technologies and methods in both Middelfart and Roskilde. I expect the facilities’ specialised process technology and volume to set new standards in Europe and place Denmark among the frontrunners in European reuse of electronics and electrical products,” says Morten Harboe-Jepsen.
The facilities will employ up to 80 people and cost a double-digit million amount per facility. The partners are already operating demonstration lines where processes and methods are being tested extensively. The finished facilities are expected to be operational in 2024.
In addition to more direct reuse, the new FtG facilities will also contribute to more component reuse. Products that cannot be reused will be dismantled into fractions, so that the metals, plastics and other materials found in today’s electronic products can subsequently be used. Although the products begin as e-waste, the dismantled fractions may end up being recycled into other electronic products – or perhaps into jewellery and other products.
The crucial point is that e-waste changes status from “waste” to “reusable components”, “raw materials” and “metals”.
Mogens Bach Christensen, CEO of HJHansen Recycling Group, looks forward to establishing the First Treatment facility in collaboration with Elretur.
“We want to focus on – and accelerate – the reuse process. And more reuse is necessary if Denmark is to reduce its climate footprint. Reuse of discarded electronic equipment can generate significant CO2 savings, primarily because it saves valuable and highly energy-intensive resources in the production of new equipment. With the new FtG facilities, Denmark has a unique opportunity to increase and improve the volume of discarded products that can be reused.”
Jakob Høy Thomsen, Product Area Manager at Stena Recycling, agrees: “Based on our experience from similar facilities in Sweden and Norway, we will be able to identify, sort, repair and resell used, functional electronic products more efficiently and quickly. In addition to the CO2 savings achieved through reuse, we will also see major CO2 savings from optimising logistics across the entire value chain. It is a win-win for everyone involved.”
According to Elretur’s analyses, the two new First Treatment facilities could, for example, increase direct reuse of large household appliances to 3,500 tonnes. This would represent a manyfold increase. At the same time, there is significant reuse potential in components such as electric motors, hard drives, circuit boards, IT and telecommunications equipment and similar items.
Elretur, Stena Recycling and HJHansen Recycling Group invite municipalities and private companies to use the facilities to handle their used electronics. Old smartphones, laptops and other products containing personal data will be handled by approved operators, ensuring that data security is not compromised and that GDPR rules are observed. Users will also be able to receive a report showing how many kilograms of electronics have been collected and the corresponding CO2 savings.
Elretur’s CEO Morten Harboe-Jepsen will become chair of the board, and Jakob Høy Thomsen, Product Area Manager at Stena Recycling, will become deputy chair.
Morten Harboe-Jepsen, CEO of Elretur, will become chair of the board, while Mogens Bach Christensen, CEO of HJHansen Recycling Group, will become deputy chair.
Both companies will also have two additional board members.
The facilities are owned and operated by HJHansen Recycling Group, Stena Recycling A/S and Elretur.
The investment in the facilities is a double-digit million amount.
The location of the two new facilities in Roskilde and Middelfart ensures easy and simple access to infrastructure, treatment facilities and labour.
The facilities will be located together with treatment facilities for residual fractions.
Depending on building permits, the facilities are expected to be constructed and commissioned in 2024. Until then, sorting will be carried out on demonstration lines.
The requirement for producers of electronics and/or batteries to collect their products after end of use is set out in the EU Directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The industry must collect 65% of the products sold.
More specifically, the collection rate must be 65% of the average weight of electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market in the preceding three years in the relevant Member State, or alternatively 85% of the weight of WEEE generated in that Member State.
In the report “Mapping of reusable large household appliances collected as WEEE at municipal recycling centres”, prepared by Econet for Elretur in August 2021, the potential for large household appliances, including cooling and freezing appliances, was assessed at between 7% and 10% of collected products. In round numbers, this corresponds to 60,000 appliances.
Small electronics and screens can also be reused to a greater extent than today. Elretur estimates that 2-4% of products can be reused when the new facilities become operational. The immediately lower potential is primarily due to the fact that many valuable recyclable components in smaller electronic products, such as circuit boards and chips, do not weigh very much, but are valuable resources that can replace newly extracted metals.
There is therefore significant potential in component reuse, such as electric motors, hard drives, circuit boards and similar components.
COWI A/S has developed a report and climate calculator for APPLiA Denmark, Elretur in Denmark, Elektronikkbransjen in Norway, OmBrukt AS in Norway and El-Kretsen in Sweden. The model quantifies the CO2 savings from reuse and recycling of different electronic products.
The model shows that reuse of discarded electronic products can generate major CO2 savings, primarily because it saves valuable and energy-intensive resources. In Denmark, Elretur’s handling of electronics saved the climate approximately 73,000 tonnes of CO2 in 2021. The potential for reuse of electronics corresponds to the annual CO2 emissions of approximately 33,000 Danes.
For all fractions, reuse generates climate savings compared with recycling. For most fractions, the savings are at least twice as high as for recycling – not to mention the massive savings compared with incineration or landfill.
Elretur is Denmark’s largest Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO), representing many different industries and types of businesses. We handle Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and batteries on behalf of more than 950 members.
Elretur is a non-profit organisation that ensures responsible and cost-effective collection and treatment of the electronic and battery waste delivered to Denmark’s recycling centres. Elretur recycles 84% of the products collected, which is above the EU average of 80%. The goal is now to take the next step and increase product reuse.
HJHansen Recycling Group is one of Denmark’s largest recycling companies. In addition to processing and recycling ferrous and metal scrap, the company also recycles raw materials, processes cables, environmentally treats cars and specialises in demolition of wind turbines and metal structures. The company is spread across 24 locations in Denmark and Sweden and employs 220 people.
HJHansen Recycling Group had revenue of DKK 3.7 billion in the latest financial year.
The H.J. Hansen Group also includes H.J. Hansen Vin. The company was founded as a merchant business in central Odense in 1829. The group is owned by Jens Hempel-Hansen, who is the fourth generation of the Hempel-Hansen family ownership.
Stena Recycling is part of the Stena Metall Group, which has seven business areas and more than 200 locations in nine countries. The group has net revenue of almost SEK 43,500 million. Every year, Stena Metall recycles and refines 6 million tonnes of waste and end-of-life products and supplies its customers with necessary raw materials. Through research and development, the group works to address future challenges with new sustainable solutions.
Stena Metall’s nearly 3,700 employees work closely with partners and customers to create value from a business perspective, for the environment and for society as a whole.