Waste treatment

With the introduction of the producer responsibility, companies will have financial responsibility for collecting, sorting and treating their packaging - from households and businesses. For household waste, producers are also given organisational responsibility for waste treatment.

Significance for registration

When registering the packaging that you put on the Danish market, you must distinguish between packaging that ends up in the waste of a household or commercial companies.
Read more about registration and reporting in 2024 here.

This is necessary beacuse Denmark has separate schemes for the management of waste from households and businesses - and thus also different prices.
Read more about the financial consequences of the producer responsibility here.

The specific design of the model and calculations will follow when the legislation that will set the framework for the calculation of fees and compensation in the two schemes is in place.
Read more about the implementation status here. 

For you as a company, this only means that you have to report quantities divided into household and business. VANA, as your PRO (producucer responsible organisation), will handle the interaction with the relevant operators.
Read more about PROs here.

Household waste

Companies have (via the PRO) financial responsibility for the collection, sorting and processing of packaging. The organisational responsibility is shared with the municipality and PRO.

Waste management is shared between municipalities (collection) and the PRO (sorting and waste treatment). The PROs must only cover the cost for the part of the waste which is packaging:

  • Citizens buy packaged products and transform them into waste. The municipalities are responsible for the collection in the households. The PRO pays a fee to the municipality in order to cover the collection of packaging in the waste. The waste is handed over to the PRO. Citizens pay via a waste fee for the part of the waste which is not packaging.

  • The PRO has the organisational responsibility for waste treatment and recycling. The PRO is compensated by the municipality for the part of the waste which is not packaging.

Commercial waste

Companies (through the PRO) bear financial responsibility.

Waste generators have the organisational responsibility which they can delegate to private operators.

Waste management for commercial waste is subject to competition. This means that private operators are responsible for collection, sorting and reprocessing:

  • Waste producing company (business) buys packaged products and transforms them into waste. The company enters into an agreement with a private operator who collects, sorts and recycles the waste. The company pays for the part of the waste which is not packaging.

  • The private operator (private waste collector) applies for compensation from the PRO to cover the costs for handling packaging in the waste.

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