After years of preparations, the establishment of Recycling City is now a reality in Frederikshavn, where great opportunities are predicted for recycling materials from, among other things, platforms.
When the world’s largest ship, Pioneering Spirit, arrived at Frederikshavn, it received a lot of attention. Along with it came the platform Tyra East, which is now on the quay in the Port of Frederikshavn. But why has the platform been shipped to North Jutland? And what exactly is Recycling City?
“The strategic work of establishing Recycling City began years ago in a collaboration between Frederikshavn Municipality, the Port of Frederikshavn and Erhvervshus Nord,” says Business Director Niels Christensen from Erhvervshus Nord.
It is all related to the UN’s 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. It may sound dry and boring, but the opportunities for recycling materials provide business opportunities that Frederikshavn has taken up in earnest.
“Recycling is a business adventure in the order of billions that can create growth and new jobs on a massive scale. This is the background for Recycling City, taking care of responsible treatment of end-of-life equipment, and which transforms the recyclable materials into new products,” explains Niels Christensen.
With Recycling City, Frederikshavn is helping to reduce the world’s consumption of raw materials by increasing the amount of recycled materials.
Growth for all of the North Denmark Region
When we talk about growth, the Global Goals may seem high and abstract, and vague and difficult to translate into action. However, in North Jutland, they have become tangible. It is very much about the environment, but also about creating jobs.
“Recycling City will create growth and new jobs in Frederikshavn, as well as in all of the North Denmark Region. We have a huge opportunity to really gain a position of strength in Europe. Recycling is a huge business economy, which probably represents the most significant area of potential growth in Frederikshavn Municipality,” the Business Director expects.
So when, for example, the Tyra platform is now located in Frederikshavn, it is a result of the strategic work with recycling and new jobs, growth and new opportunities.
The players at the port
The goal is to pursue a focused recycling strategy, where Recycling City aims to become a cluster for the transformation of waste products into new raw materials because this is where investments and the growth economy lie within sustainability and climate.
“In the Port of Frederikshavn the city has an excellent starting point to strengthen its position and a brand like Recycling City. Furthermore, the city is a logistics centre with a motorway, port and ferries to and from Norway and Sweden,” says Niels Christensen.
He emphasises that, among other things, it has succeeded in attracting Modern American Recycling Services (M.A.R.S.), which will be a primary player in the recycling cluster at the Port of Frederikshavn.
M.A.R.S. is responsible for breaking down and recycling materials from the Tyra platform. The company has the capacity to scrap 250,000 tonnes of steel per year. In the same line of business is Jatob, which has been recycling ships for more than 20 years and annually scraps approx. 50,000 tonnes of steel.