A new First Treatment plant will reduce the large volumes of electronic waste delivered to recycling centres in western Denmark by lifting electronic products out of the waste stream and returning them to the market for reuse. Denmark’s largest Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO), Elretur, is behind the new facility together with HJHansen Recycling Group. The facility is expected to extend the life of several thousand electronic products and create a number of jobs in Middelfart.
The best possible environmental solution is to avoid waste altogether. The next best option is reuse.
Last year, more than 70,000 tonnes of washing machines, phones, computers and other types of electronic products were collected at Denmark’s recycling centres. Today, almost all materials from the electronic products handed in are recycled, but before a product is dismantled and recycled, it should be reused in its original form and function for as long as possible.
This is precisely the task that Electronic Reuse & Recycling A/S will handle at its new First Treatment plant in Middelfart.
The facility is the first of its kind and will process the many tonnes of electronic waste delivered to recycling centres across western Denmark in order to identify and sort reusable electronic products from the waste stream, so they can then be repaired and returned to the market.
Behind the First Treatment plant are HJHansen Recycling Group and Denmark’s largest PRO, Elretur, which for almost 20 years has handled companies’ EPR for electronics by collecting, registering and treating the large volumes of electronic waste delivered to Denmark’s nearly 400 recycling centres.
“Our First Treatment plant assumes a much greater responsibility than required, and it is a task we take on because we believe it is the right thing to do. Our approach makes it possible to ensure economies of scale in the reuse and resale of electronic products. By repairing and reusing electronic products, we extend their lifespan, save valuable resources and reduce CO2 emissions by reducing the need for new production – all important steps towards a more circular economy,” says Morten Harboe-Jepsen, CEO of Elretur.
Mogens Bach Christensen, CEO of HJHansen Recycling Group, also looks forward to establishing the First Treatment plant in collaboration with Elretur.
“If Denmark is to achieve its national climate targets, it is crucial that we become better at reusing and making the most of our valuable resources. The new facility will contain special process technology, and its scale will set new standards in Europe and place Denmark at the forefront of European reuse of electronics and electrical products,” says Mogens Bach Christensen, CEO of HJHansen Recycling Group.
When Electronic Reuse & Recycling A/S puts its First Treatment plant into operation in 2024, it will treat electronic waste from all of western Denmark. The decision to establish a First Treatment plant in Middelfart was no coincidence, explains Elretur CEO Morten Harboe-Jepsen.
“Middelfart is a central hub in Danish infrastructure and therefore an obvious location for the facility. In addition, Middelfart Municipality is focused on developing solutions that can contribute to a more sustainable future, so it was exactly the right place to establish our western Denmark facility.”
Electronic Reuse & Recycling’s First Treatment plant is expected to save around 60,000 discarded electronic products from the waste stream every year and create 40 jobs. This is welcomed by the mayor of Middelfart.
“Through initiatives such as Klimabyen and Klimafolkemødet, Middelfart Municipality has shown that we are a municipality focused on sustainability. Electronic Reuse & Recycling’s mission to give discarded electronics new life through reuse fits perfectly with our ambition to lead the way in the climate effort. At the same time, it shows that our ambitions within sustainability also create local growth and jobs. I am therefore very pleased that Elretur and HJHansen Recycling Group have chosen to establish their unique reuse facility here in Middelfart,” says Johannes Lundsfryd Jensen (S), Mayor of Middelfart Municipality.
Two new companies and First Treatment plants are being established:
The First Treatment plants will be the first of their kind in Denmark.
They are part of the PfR initiative (Preparation for Reuse), which will help ensure that Danish products achieve longer life cycles.
The two new First Treatment plants will enable economies of scale in identification and sorting, so that a much larger share of discarded electronics can leave the waste stream and return to the market after repair and cleaning – with a minimum six-month warranty and a two-year right of return.
Before the facilities are established, processes and methods are tested in demonstration lines by the partners. The completed facilities will be operational in 2024, and the two plants are expected to save around 60,000 discarded electronic products per year and employ a total of 80 people.
The two First Treatment plants support Denmark’s ambition for a strong circular economy and UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 on responsible consumption and production.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) makes producers responsible for the life cycle of their products – from cradle to grave. EPR means that producers must pay for waste treatment. The framework for EPR is designed to create incentives for circular product design.
The requirement for producers of electronics and/or batteries to collect their products after end use is set out in the EU Directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The industry must collect 65 per cent of the products sold. More specifically, the collection rate must be 65 per cent of the average weight of electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market during the previous three years in the relevant Member State, or alternatively 85 per cent by weight of WEEE generated in that Member State.
Elretur is Denmark’s largest PRO, with close to 20 years of experience handling EPR.
We handle EPR for electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and batteries on behalf of more than 960 companies across a wide range of sectors in Denmark. From 2024, we also handle EPR for packaging.
Elretur ensures responsible and cost-effective collection and management of the electronic and battery waste delivered to Denmark’s recycling centres. Elretur recycles 84 per cent of the products collected, which is above the EU average of 80 per cent. The goal is now to go one step further and increase product reuse.
Elretur is part of Retur.
Retur is a family of non-profit Producer Responsibility Organisations that handle EPR for electronics, batteries, packaging and textile products on behalf of importers and producers. Together, we work to increase reuse and recycling so that as many valuable resources as possible are lifted out of the waste stream and returned to circulation – Retur to the future.
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, treats cables, carries out environmentally sound treatment of cars and specialises in dismantling wind turbines and metal structures. The company has 24 locations in Denmark and Sweden and employs 220 people.
HJHansen Recycling Group had revenue of DKK 3.7 billion in the most recent financial year.
The H.J. Hansen Group also includes H.J. Hansen Vin. The company was founded as a grocery business in central Odense in 1829. The group is owned by Jens Hempel-Hansen, the fourth generation of the Hempel-Hansen family ownership.
Morten Harboe-Jepsen, CEO of Elretur and Chair of the Board of Electronic Reuse & Recycling and Loop Electronic. Email: mhj@elretur.dk, mobile +45 4031 8187.
Mogens Bach Christensen, CEO of HJHansen. Email: mbc@hjhansen.dk, mobile +45 21485710.