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Recycling of waste to material

Resource efficient production

COWI Is World Waste Champion

With an annual turnover of USD 16.2 million, COWI takes first place in the magazine Engineering News-Record's top ten of international engineering companies in waste management and recycling. The ranking is based on the companies' own reports regarding turnover figures for projects outside their home countries.

Denmark as a role model

Torben Kristiansen, Vice President of COWI's department of Solid Waste Management talks about the global top spot:

"COWI's first place is the result of the total global turnover in the COWI Group - and especially in COWI Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Over the years, we have developed core competences within recycling of raw materials and the development of local solutions that optimise environmental considerations, resource administration, economy and user services - all services increasingly in demand on the market.

The top spot should also be seen in light of the fact that Denmark - and Scandinavia - for years have focused on environment, waste and resources, and has succeeded in integrating environmental solutions in the energy industry. This has resulted in a special Scandinavian strength regarding technologies and solutions to ensure optimum utilisation of the resources and energy in waste - based on a life-cycle approach."

Read more about COWI on www.stateofgreen.com

Growth potential in developing countries

This strength also means that COWI predicts a continual, massive growth potential - especially in developing countries as well as in the newest or future EU member countries, many of which have started to implement new policies and solutions to ensure that their resources do not go to waste in dumps, but are put to use in the best possible way in terms of environment and resources. Currently, COWI is assisting Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe in such solutions.

Precious waste

The increasing demand for waste management and recycling services is also caused by focus shifting from environmentally sound "disposal" to "recycling":

"Just a few years ago, customers' main focus was on environmentally sound waste disposal. Today, they are forced to consider how to preserve the scarce and valuable resources found in our waste. Quite simply, waste will be a valuable resource in the future", says Torben Kristiansen.

Interested in waste management? Learn more on www.stateofgreen.com

Copper is just one of the raw materials in such high demand that it is worthwhile reclaiming it from our waste for recycling purposes. Half the world's available copper resources have already been extracted, 90 per cent of it being used in the OECD countries. The high growth in India and China, among other countries, means that the demand for copper for electronics, cables and cars etc. is rising rapidly.

Source: COWI

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