F&H Group join forces against plastic waste in new partnership

Today, many industrial products made of plastic are burnt or deposited after use because they either are not designed for recycling or because the available recycling technologies cannot handle the products. Several of the largest Danish companies prefer a change, and they would like recycling to increase by at least 20 percent before 2025.

The project partners, i.a., comprise among others F&H Group, Coloplast, Novo Nordisk, Grundfos, and COOP. Danish Technological Institute has united the companies in a project called Circular Industrial Plastics (CIP) that has a total budget of 41m DKK, of which 18m DKK were granted by the Danish Eco-Innovation Program (MUDP) under the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.

We produce too much plastic that only is used once and then it is thrown away and goes up in smoke. Therefore, it is superb that some Danish key industrial actors are joining forces to increase recycling of industrial plastics. In Denmark we are good at finding solutions together, which this project brilliantly illustrates. Society is created to consume enormous amounts of resources and could be compared with a super-jumbo that has to change course. This project will definitely contribute to a step in the right direction, says Ms. Lea Wermelin, Danish Environmental Protection Agency.

A new circular puzzle

Key actors do not usually join forces:

It is unique that so many large and different companies co-operate across sectors and value chains. It is also an advantage as merely the size of the companies makes it easier to quickly upscale and circulate solutions. Together we can now discuss how we can create new circular material cycles that work technically, financially, and environmentally. A new circular puzzle will be solved, says Dr. Lars Haahr Jepsen, Team Manager, Danish Technological Institute.

Rethinking technologies and products

The circular puzzle will for instance be resolved by matching product materials with available recycling technologies. The project will investigate how plastics in products made with an eye to functionality and longevity – but not necessarily to recycling – can be used in new products or perhaps in other plastic products of the same quality. Alternatively, it might be possible to decompose the material chemically and convert it into raw material for new plastic production. The project will also investigate if future products can be designed in preparation for recycling.

The project will demonstrate that products as well as technologies will be adapted for increasing circularity – not only within one company but across companies. As we operate within several trades in the project it will be possible to pool plastic streams and obtain synergy effects that benefit the economy and the environmental gain of the solutions, says Project Manager, Dr. Søren Haack, Danish Technological Institute.

Easy access to circular plastics

The first step in the CIP project will be to survey and investigate the plastic materials that currently are used in the companies and then create an infrastructure for further treatment and recovery.

At the completion of the project, the objective will be to demonstrate full-scale solutions for selected products within the categories of medical, technical, and consumer plastics, and to demonstrate the interaction of new recovery technologies in the circular flow.

Furthermore, the ambition is that the CIP project will give Danish companies access to new knowledge and technologies for establishing circular flows within plastics.

The CIP project lays the foundation for a platform that matches materials and recovery technologies. This will give Danish companies easy access to co-operation and knowledge about specific solutions that can be implemented at once – but also to knowledge about innovation in the future. In brief, the project will be a catalyst for the transition from linear to circular production and the use of plastics, says Dr. Lars Haahr Jepsen from Danish Technological Institute.

The project Circular Industrial Plastics (CIP) is supported by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency and is a so-called flagship project where solutions will be tested and demonstrated in full-scale to inspire Danish trade and industry.