FAQ - Waste Management
In Denmark, we handle waste differently depending on whether it comes from households (private citizens) or businesses.
The municipalities are still responsible for collecting the waste from households, while private actors handle waste from businesses.
Read more about waste treatment and the consequences for reporting
No: Waste-producing companies only have to pay for the handling of waste that is not packaging. The producer must pay for the part that is packaging.
A packaging is registered in the producer responsibility by the company that first makes it available on the Danish market, with business as the end user. When the packaging becomes commercial waste, it is collected by a private waste collector, who is compensated by the producer responsibility organisation (PRO).
Read more about waste treatment under producer responsibility
Packaging for general waste
The starting point is that all packaging is reported as general waste. It is solely in cases where a packaging is designed so that, according to the sorting instructions, it should be sorted as residual or hazardous waste, that it should not be reported in the category of general waste.
Read the Environmental Agency's sorting instructions (Danish)
Therefore, most packaging is expected to be categorised as this type of waste distributed among the material categories:
- paper
- cardboard
- ferrous metals
- aluminum
- glass
- plastic
- food and beverage cartons
- wood
- porcelain
- cork
- ceramics.
Packaging for residual waste
Waste that is not covered by other established collection or disposal schemes. This means waste that is not recyclable, is not hazardous or is not covered by another scheme with producer responsibility. For example, pizza boxes.
The packaging must be designed so that it falls under this category. It does not matter what you expect the end user to do with the packaging.
Packaging for hazardous waste
Substances, materials, or products that are exhausted, such as chlorine-containing cleaners, paint, and aerosol cans, etc.
Read the Environmental Agency's sorting instructions (Danish)
Hazardous waste must not contain products that can pose a danger in the collection and treatment, for example, fireworks.
The packaging must be designed so that it falls under this category. It does not matter what you expect the end user to do with the packaging.
If you are in doubt, you can read the Environmental Agency's sorting instructions (Danish).
A take-back scheme means that producers have the opportunity to organize the return of their packaging themselves and either recycle or reuse it - either in their own production or with another private handler. This can for example be done through deposit schemes.
In a take-back scheme, the company itself handles the collection, sorting, and processing of its packaging waste. This differs from, for instance, an offer where the company allows its customers to return packaging upon delivery, and then disposes of it in its own commercial waste.
The rules regarding own take-back schemes are set by the statutory order on packaging.