The Gemidan Group opens new facility in Central Jutland
[Press Release from Gemidan A/S]
Gemidan A/S opens new facility in Central Jutland
The location aims to reduce CO₂ emissions and boost the green transition, while the waste experts seek to reignite the conversation on waste management.
The facility is installed and build by Gemidans daughter company Gemidan Ecogi – See more at https://ecogi.dk/en/
Gemidan takes another step toward more sustainable waste handling with the opening of a new facility in Viborg. The fully automated plant can process up to 70,000 tonnes of food waste annually and is strategically located in the heart of Jutland to minimize transportation costs and reduce CO₂ emissions from waste transport. With this new facility, food waste from even more households can be efficiently recycled—benefiting both the environment and local waste management.
“Previously, waste was transported to Holsted, so Viborg is a logistical hub. The closer we get to the sources of waste, the less CO₂ we emit, and the more food waste we can recover. This facility is the next natural step for us—and it will make a real difference for the environment,” says Tobias Breinholt Hoffmann, CSO at Gemidan.
Jacob Dam Larsen will lead the operations at the facility. He is eager to receive the first delivery of food waste.
“I’m incredibly proud that Gemidan has placed their trust in me. I’ve looked forward to joining a company where sustainability truly permeates the work—and where the overarching goal is to ensure the most efficient and environmentally friendly production of biogas possible,” says Jacob Dam Larsen, Operations Manager in Viborg.
The climate loses
Gemidan already operates four pre-treatment facilities across the other regions of Denmark. Experience shows that a flexible approach to sorting yields significantly better results than rigid requirements to keep packaging out. The average Danish household throws away around 130 kilograms of food waste annually, but only about half of it ends up in the correct bin. This leads to a large amount of waste that goes unused.
“If we can just recover an additional 30 kilograms per household, it would have a major impact on the green transition. That’s why we need to talk about how we manage food waste,” says Tobias Breinholt Hoffmann. He elaborates:
“We can easily handle up to 20 percent non-organic packaging and still achieve optimal purity in our finished bio-pulp. This means we are more than happy to receive a liver pâté container—even if it still contains food residue. If people throw the rest of their liver pâté in the residual waste because of the packaging, it all ends up being incinerated. And that’s a loss for the climate. So it’s essential for us to push the dialogue around food waste handling in Denmark forward.”
Purity is key
Gemidan’s treatment facility converts food waste into biomass, which is used for biogas production and eventually becomes fertilizer. The facility ensures bio-pulp with up to 99.9% purity, and Gemidan sees the new plant as an important piece in the circular economy puzzle.
“We’re demonstrating that pragmatic solutions work. Our facility can easily handle extra packaging, and we still produce a virtually pure bio-pulp free from microplastics. That’s why we care deeply about reviving the conversation on better, more flexible use of food waste,” says Tobias Breinholt Hoffmann. He adds:
“It’s important to remember that waste management isn’t tax-funded. Citizens pay for it—and that’s just one more reason to ensure we get as much value as possible from every potato peel.”
Gemidan’s Viborg facility will be operational during week 24 and has the capacity to process up to 70,000 tonnes of food waste annually.
