It is a step in a green direction for all of Denmark that has been taken today, because ReSource Denmark was officially inaugurated on Wednesday in the Esbjerg district of Veldbæk. ReSource Denmark is Denmark's largest plastic sorting plant, and it has had growing pains since the travel party in early spring last year.
Factory manager Lars H. Kristensen is also very satisfied with the new factory, and there is only a little wormwood in the cup at the inauguration. The rain was pouring down.
- The weather is as it should be here in Esbjerg - a warm welcome to our official opening. We are happy to see you here today together with the entire value chain within the recycling of plastics, said Lars H. Kristensen and pointed out that yesterday's brilliant weather was completely gone for DOI.dk's dispatchers.
Today, the staff counts a total of 27 employees, but the number is intended to increase to 60 within a number of years.
- We need to increase to 60 and more shifts if we are to reach our capacity of 160,000 tons of sorted plastic waste per year, he explained further.
Has been running since January 2024
ReSource Denmark's facility opened on January 1, 2024, and it has been a steep learning curve that the employees have been involved in so that the high-tech facility can run well today.
- I would like to thank our dream team. We could not boast of experience in plastic sorting when we started six months ago. We have taken a step towards a green future. This will increase Denmark's plastic recycling with our state-of-the-art technology, Lars H. Kristensen stated and noted that sustainability was considered throughout:
- The facility is in the spirit of sustainability, and we have solar cells on the roof along with green planting.
A proud Esbjerg mayor Jesper Frost Rasmussen (V) was also present at the inauguration.
- Denmark's largest plastic sorting facility has now been inaugurated, and it helps to show that we want to be a green pioneering municipality. This is the path we are taking as a society. And it is not only Danish plastic that will be sorted here with an annual capacity of 160,000 tons, said Jesper Frost Rasmussen, regarding the fact that plastic waste will also be imported from abroad for sorting in Esbjerg. Officially, there are around 60,000 tons of plastic waste in Denmark per year.
No plastic from Esbjerg yet
The municipalities are some of the customers for ReSource Denmark's new plant, which can give the municipalities a good opportunity to sort the plastic waste.
- We currently receive plastic waste from 31 municipalities, says Lars H. Kristensen, and you can sense that more municipalities are on their way to becoming ReSource Denmark's customer list.
However, the host municipality of Esbjerg is not yet one of the customers.
- Esbjerg is not yet included, because there is glass in Esbjerg's plastic waste, and we cannot sort with glass, explains the factory manager.
The Danish Parliament politician Marianne Bigum (SF) had traveled to Esbjerg for the inauguration, because as an environmental engineer with a PhD, plastic sorting is a heart child.
- I'm standing here shaking with joy. It's because they found out that burning plastic has a negative impact on CO2 emissions that this became possible, she explained and gave a deeper perspective:
- The political goal is that plastic waste becomes a valuable resource, so that we don't have to import so much plastic in the future.
She also made it clear why the plant has been successful.
- Here we are today with a new plant and some Norwegian oil money, which made everything run a little easier. Here we can show the good story, the politician firmly stated.
ReSource Denmark is a partnership between French Eurazeo and Norwegian Quantafuel. That's why Marianne Bigum refers to Norwegian oil money.
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