On 17th November, lead partner Mažeikiai Municipality and expert partner Green Business Norway visited Sydhavn Genbrugscenter, a recycling and ReUse centre where they met with Mr. Kristoffer Carr-Saunders, Chief Consultant, Sustainable Construction and Recycling, Technical and Environmental Administration at the City of Copenhagen in Denmark.
The purpose of the visit was to learn about facilities for collection and sorting and reuse of unwanted large household items.
This ReUse centre visited is the biggest in Denmark (~1.000m2) and belongs to the municipality of Copenhagen. There are 5 ReUse points in Copenhagen where 51.600tons of waste were generated.
Currently around 10% of this waste is reused and 45% is recycled – the centre aims to reach 16% reuse and 70% recycling rates by 2024.
Infrastructure and the customer experience is well planned for. Every incoming car/truck drops first items which could be reused by the entrance and is then guided to containers for disposal of special types of waste. The centre accepts 35 different types of waste.
Companies are expected to pay a 20 EUR fee per visit or truckload, whereas private individuals do not need to pay anything.
The centre advertises the items recovered that can be sold mainly on Facebook, prices are typically kept low to encourage people to buy recovered items from ReUse stations, a strategy that will be kept for the foreseeable future.
Partners were also informed of ReUse centres in other countries, such as in Belgium and Stockholm. Each of these have different capacities and focus depending on the country’s living standards and citizen’s attitude towards use of old items and reduction of waste. The partners have expressed their will to visit these locations as well in the near future.
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