The Danish Technological Institute has united major Danish companies in the Circular Industrial Plastics (CIP) project to increase recycling of industrial plastics by at least 20 percent before 2025 and to create a new platform for recycling plastics in Danish companies. The project is supported by the Ministry of the Environment’s MUDP (the Danish Eco-Innovation program), and project partners include Grundfos, Coloplast, Novo Nordisk, Danfoss, Topsoe, Grundfos and COOP.
Burnt or deposited after use
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.
A journey of partnership and collaboration
Project partner Grundfos has already taken important strides in addressing a better way of using plastic in its products. Recent successes in optimizing the reuse of production waste and the Grundfos take-back programme demonstrates its focus on this area. Nonetheless, this is a journey that requires partnership and collaboration.
“Industrial plastic is a very important material group, and it is possible to create functional design from the material. However, Grundfos takes responsibility for the full value chain and for the end-of-life product. It is a very complex task to match materials and end-of-life circular technologies. Grundfos cannot accomplish that on its own. So besides inspiring other companies, Grundfos also wants to strengthen its ‘toolbox’ regarding legacy products and the design of new products,” says Preben Jakobsen, Chief Engineer and Grundfos representative for the CIP project steering group.
Research plastic recycling technologies
CIP provides the opportunity to work alongside recyclers, technology providers, and knowledge institutions to enable circular value chains that will in turn, generate value for Grundfos and the industry. Together, the businesses will explore various plastic recycling technologies and evaluate how these technologies perform on the specific types of technical plastics commonly used in our products.
Learn more about CIP here.
