News in Brief

Danish start-up takes over waste processing plant at Port Esbjerg

The plant at Port Esbjerg processing hazardous waste from ships has been taken over by Nordic Oily Waste, a Danish entrepreneurial business specialising in sustainable solutions for the handling and processing of liquid industrial waste. This means that all hazardous waste will be upcycled and recycled unless it is absolutely non-recyclable.

“We’re excited to take over operations here at Port Esbjerg; it’s such an attractive place to do business. Circular and sustainable solutions to waste issues are very much our core business, so we’ll make every effort to develop the plant and the processes,” says Theis Rinaldo Andersen, CEO of Rinaldo Holding Aps, the owner of Nordic Oily Waste.

Development efforts will include measures to accept additional types of waste for processing, investing in alternative filtering methods and digitising reporting.

“This area has so much potential if you’ve got a green mindset and you’re open to green investment. We want to be active players and be involved in the process, also locally at the port where it’s important for us to be present and to be constantly optimising,” explains Rinaldo Andersen.

The company’s focus on sustainable solutions fits like a glove with Port Esbjerg’s business objectives.

“Promoting recycling and sustainability in a broad sense is one of our priorities, so we naturally welcome the additional capacity with that focus,” says Jesper Bank, CCO at Port Esbjerg. 

Owned by the Rinaldo Holding group, Nordic Oily Waste A/S is the result of Rinaldo Holding acquiring the shares in Fortum Waste Solutions OW A/S. The company also runs a sewage treatment facility at the port of Grenaa and a processing plant at the port of Aarhus.

Users’ views of Port Esbjerg reflect reality

Port Esbjerg is predominantly known as a base for the wind industry and a base port for offshore oil and gas. That is the result of a survey conducted on LinkedIn, in which the users of Port Esbjerg were asked what they think Port Esbjerg is known for.

76 per cent think the port is known as a base for the wind industry, 75 per cent know Port Esbjerg as a base port for offshore oil and gas, 51 per cent associate Port Esbjerg with maritime services and shipyards, 35 per cent connect the port with general project goods activities and 32 per cent know Port Esbjerg for its RoRo terminals.

These results are almost completely consistent with the actual business structure at the port. 

“We wanted to learn how our professional users perceive the port’s profile in order to find out whether their perceptions are consistent with the actual business structure at the port today. And we’re very happy to note that our users’ views of the port are pretty much a reflection of reality,” explains Jesper Bank, CCO at Port Esbjerg.

Project goods is the only area with a level of awareness below the actual state of affairs, and wanting to raise its profile, Port Esbjerg has already decided to attend the 2022 Breakbulk Europe conference in Rotterdam.

In addition, the port aims to promote its efforts to become a sustainable port. While this area was not included in the survey, Port Esbjerg has launched a number of green initiatives over the past few years and wants to raise awareness of these efforts among its professional users.

The survey was conducted during the early part of the summer on LinkedIn, where Port Esbjerg has more than 9,000 followers. Two hundred users responded to the open survey. The knowledge collected will be used to target the port’s marketing and supplement the local authority’s branding activities.

Solar energy powering Port Esbjerg’s two Fanø lighthouses

Since the 1990s, ships bound for or departing from Port Esbjerg have been able to navigate by two lighthouses on the island of Fanø. When the ship is parallel to both lighthouses, the crew know that they are in the middle of the basin and in the best position to swing.

When it is dark, ships navigate by the lights at the top of the two lighthouses, which are now powered by solar energy rather than conventional fossil-fuel power. The change to a sustainable power supply took place recently when two 355W solar panels were mounted at Port Esbjerg’s two lighthouses.

“The solar power system also supplies electricity to a battery pack whereby the light is powered at night when power isn’t generated ,” explains Glenn Møller Hansen, Port Esbjerg Team Leader.