ICAW Webinar: Food Waste and the Circular Economy – Experience from Denmark

Denmark has a long legacy as an agricultural producer and exporter, with a strong national interest in maintaining healthy soil and clean water. The capture and use of nutrients in food waste and animal manure is on the rise especially over the last several years with the growth of centralized large-scale anaerobic digester (AD) facilities.

Denmark has a long legacy as an agricultural producer and exporter, with a strong national interest in maintaining healthy soil and clean water. The capture and use of nutrients in food waste and animal manure is on the rise especially over the last several years with the growth of centralized large-scale anaerobic digester (AD) facilities. As communities in Denmark look to divert more food waste from incineration, the production of ‘bio-pulp’ for delivery to AD plants for renewable energy and fertilizer production continues to grow. The quality controls and regulations around digestate use on croplands in Denmark has led to development of systems designed to limit contamination. These could serve as a model for the numerous de-packaging systems that have been deployed in the US. The webinar will provide an overview of the multi-faceted policy framework that has been put in place over the last 20 years to allow for continued growth of the agriculture sector with a decreasing environmental footprint.

Panelists
Bob Spencer has over 20 years of experience in the development and operation of composting facilities. He is a consultant to communities and companies throughout the country, provides technical assistance to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, and he assisted the City of Beijing, China in evaluating composting for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Bob is a Contributing Editor for BioCycle Magazine, a certified planner with the American Institute of Certified Planners, and is the Director of the Windham Solid Waste Management District. He has a B.S. in Biology, and a M.S.in Resource Management and Policy.

Claus Mortensen is the Site Manager for Agro Business Park, Denmark. Claus has been in the Danish bioenergy industry for eight years undertaking biogas sector analysis and facilitating innovation activities between companies and universities. In addition to this, he has been planning export activities related to bioenergy in more than 20 countries. Claus oversees Agro Business Park’s startup incubator, Copenhagen Agrifood Incubator consulting, and advising companies of all sized in business development, innovation, funding and export. Claus holds a Master of Science Business Administration and Innovation Management and is a trained Export Consultant

Dr. Rasmus Eisted is an experienced senior expert on Circular Economy and Waste Management in the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. He has been in the private and public waste sector since 2000. Rasmus holds a PhD. in waste management from Technical University of Denmark and an MSc. In Environmental Engineering. Throughout his career, Rasmus has worked on a comprehensive number of environmental aspects with a specific focus on organic resources and Life Cycle Assessment of Waste Management systems. Rasmus has contributed to a broad variety of projects in the Arctic Regions, North America, Europe and Asia. Currently, Rasmus carries out tasks as a Governmental Official on export of Danish waste treatment expertise and Strategic Sector Cooperation (SSC) between Denmark and Indonesia.

Lars Ravn Nielsen is the Chief Executive Officer of Gemidan Ecogi A/S, responsible for overall business activities including worldwide sales. He holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering & Business Administration and has more than 30 years of experience working with international businesses. Since 2016, Lars has been working with pre-treatment of organic waste, and is responsible for development and sales of the Ecogi Technology.

Moderator
Chris Voell is a Senior Commercial Advisor at the Embassy of Denmark in Washington, DC, where he is heading the Waste, Recycling & Biogas Advisory. Chris has worked for non-profit, government and private organizations in the waste management, wastewater, livestock and biogas energy sectors since 1986, most recently with the Climate Change Division of the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Global Methane Initiative. Chris is working closely with American and Danish stakeholders to identify opportunities and synergies between Danish innovation and U.S. demand. His focus is on identifying strategic partnerships and business alliances with North American companies, NGOs and government agencies and helping to advance environmentally and economically sound waste management systems. Chris has degrees in Forestry and Natural Resources Management from Paul Smith’s College and the University of Maryland.

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