Bananas used for district heating in Horsens, Denmark

Date: 19/04/2018

After a ship collision in Danish waters, stranded waste including bananas, cardboard and plastic is converted into district heating.

On March 27^th, a collision took place between the dry bulk carrier, BBC Neptune, and the container ship, Delphis Gdansk in the Oresund, which is the strait located between Denmark and Sweden. The collision resulted in large amounts of bananas, cardboard and plastic being washed on to the shores of the little island of Endelave, reports the Danish newspaper Aarhus Stiftstidende.

Since the collision, the Danish municipality of Horsens has been busy cleaning up the stretch of the coast where the cargo was leaked. “Seven employees from the Service and Emergency department have collected the waste with rakes, shovels and loaders. The total amount of the waste collected amounts to between 20-25 tonnes”, says Tommy Krogh Abrahamsen, who is an engineer at the Municipality of Horsens’ Environment and Nature department.

The 30 km long stretch of coast has now been cleaned, and luckily, use has been found for the waste, which consists of bananas, cardboard and plastic. The waste is on its way to the combined heat and power plant in Horsens, where it will be converted into traditional district heating.

Source: Energy Supply