All done: Recycling centers tighten requirements for clear bags

Starting June 24, recycling centers in Aalborg Municipality will tighten the requirement for using clear waste bags.

With clear bags, the advisors at the municipality’s recycling centers can better assist residents in sorting their waste correctly.

If clear bags are not used, residents may be asked to sort their waste at the center or return with the waste properly sorted in clear bags.

This announcement comes from Nordværk in a press release.

“Our recycling advisors are specialists in waste sorting and are always ready to help residents with advice and guidance.

That’s essentially their primary task, but it’s difficult if they can’t see what’s in the bags.

That’s why we are now tightening the requirement for residents to use clear bags,” John Ebdrup Kyneb, the responsible professional at Nordværk’s recycling centers in Aalborg Municipality, says.

There are many good reasons to improve sorting at the municipality’s recycling centers. Better sorting increases resource utilization, ensures better economics, and meets the rising demands from companies that receive the sorted waste.

“The better the sorting, the better the chances we have for recycling and utilizing the waste resources. It’s good for the environment, but it’s also about economics.

We face increasing demands from companies that receive and use the waste in their products, and they are willing to pay more if there are fewer sorting errors,” John Ebdrup Kyneb explains.

Sample shows sorting errors

It has been a legal requirement for many years throughout Denmark to only use clear bags at the country’s recycling centers.

According to John Ebdrup Kyneb, Aalborg Municipality has tried to enforce this legal requirement through dialogue and guidance, but unfortunately, it has not had the desired effect.

This is demonstrated by a spot check of a residual waste container at the Over Kæret recycling center in Aalborg, which showed that 60 percent of all residual waste was incorrectly sorted.

“We experience far too often that waste is incorrectly sorted.

It’s not good for the environment, and sorting errors can also become an expensive affair as it may require re-sorting or make recycling difficult,” he concludes.