ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Nordisk Microfibre (NMF) in Denmark, which specialises in the manufacture of professional microfibre cloths and mops, is launching a new take-back scheme whereby it collects, sorts and recycles products.

The company will collect all brands of microfibre products, not just its own, in a drive to convert dead resources into active ones with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions as much as possible.

Take Back by NMF, which is being developed in conjunction with specialists from the Danish Technological Institute, has financial backing from the EU.

Used microfibre mops and cloths with the Nordic Swan ecolabel will be collected within five days by NMF's distribution partner (via electric transport). They are then taken to a plastics factory where they are melted into plastic granules, which can then be used in the manufacture of new plastic products.

Marlene Ventzel at NMF explained: "We only collect microfibre products labelled with the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, to ensure a high quality of raw material and thereby an outcome of high quality after recycling. We do collect all brands.

"Circular economy is about utilising valuable resources. Instead of throwing away we should use products several times (reuse) or use the materials for new products (recycle). That way they will not end up as waste, instead they are transformed into new products."

She continued: "CO2 emissions are reduced by 93 per cent when we recycle plastic instead of producing new. And it is the best existing technological solution for recycling microfibre."

Take Back by NMF will launch in October and will be available only in Denmark initially.

www.nordiskmicrofiber.com