New and ambitious agreements on the recycling of cardboard and paper in Denmark

To ensure that companies' cardboard and paper are handled effectively and environmentally responsibly, VANA has entered into a number of new agreements in the area. VANA has just entered into treatment agreements for nearly 90,000 tons of cardboard and paper per year – equivalent to about half of the total quantity that is currently collected through the municipal collection schemes across the country.

Processed into new products

With the new agreements, VANA ensures that the collected cardboard and paper from Danish homes is treated and processed into new products. This takes place at facilities in Denmark and Northern Germany, where the materials are sorted, cleaned, and processed into new paper and cardboard products. This means that the packaging gets a new life in the form of, for example, corrugated cardboard, newsprint, and egg cartons, which saves both energy, resources, and CO₂ compared to production from newly felled trees. VANA has also introduced requirements for traceability and documentation. This means that there is a careful accounting of where the materials come from, how they move through the value chain - and what proportion is actually recycled.

Strong partners across the country

At Stena Recycling, one of the largest contract partners, there is great support for VANA's demands for documentation and real environmental benefits:

"We are proud that VANA has chosen to collaborate with us. Both the high traceability and actual recycling rate that VANA has emphasised are absolutely necessary if we are to ensure that the collected materials actually benefit new products. We look forward to contributing to a more circular waste sector in Denmark," says Søren Ladefoged Sørensen, who is the Regional Director West at Stena Recycling.

At Verdis, there is also great satisfaction with the collaboration. "It is important that producer responsibility organisations like VANA take the lead and set requirements for the entire value chain. It is not enough to collect materials from households and businesses - we must also ensure that they are treated correctly and are useful," says Freja Marloth Bechmann, who is the CCO at Verdis.

An uplift for the Danish waste sector

With the new agreements on paper and cardboard, VANA has now secured environmentally and operationally strong solutions for all the major packaging fractions – including plastic, metal, and glass. This means that VANA is fully prepared to take on the task when around 7,000 Danish companies are subject to the new producer responsibility for packaging starting from October 1.

Transport agreements are also in place

In addition to the new treatment agreements for paper and cardboard, VANA has also entered into over 80 transport agreements distributed across the country, ensuring that the collected packaging quickly and efficiently goes from households to the appropriate treatment facilities. The overall transport setup supports high efficiency and stable operation throughout the country.