In Denmark four companies - Nopa Nordic A/S, Schela Plast A/S, Aage Vestergaard Larsen A/S and Dansk Affald A/S - have banded together to tackle the challenge of recycling household waste into new plastics packaging.
The collaboration is unique in in Denmark. The four companies represent the entire recycled plastics value chain, enabling the formation of a true a true circular loop where discarded plastic is turned into new plastic bottles based on 100% household waste.
The idea for the partnership arose more than a year ago when, in response to consumer demand for more sustainable packaging, Nopa Nordic, a private label manufacturer of detergents, cleaning products and personal care products, was looking to use packaging made from recycled material based on domestic Danish household-sorted plastic.
Collaboration was sought with packaging producer Schela Plast, Damifos, who is responsible for the collection and sorting of the waste plastic and recycled raw material manufacturer Aage Vestergaard Larsen. The latter, in particular, has invested heavily in the initiative, as demand for waste-based raw materials is rising fast. The company has already had to scale up its production capacity.
The companies embarked on the initiative, which has now resulted in the development of the new packaging, which the partners say, can fulfill a need ‘at a time when everyone is looking for sustainable solutions’.
In a statement released today, they stated that “we are proud to have reached the goal in that millions of plastic bottles in the coming years will be made from plastic waste from local households,” stressing that the key to success was their open and innovative collaboration - ‘each bringing their own expertise, is the way forward for the development of more environmentally sustainable Danish products’.