An aerial shot of the Swedish west coast with a road next to a forest.

About us

Our way forward

Moving forward towards a truly circular society

At Stena Recycling, we want to keep moving forward and develop circular material flows throughout the entire value chain. To achieve our target, we will continue to invest in new customer solutions, develop innovative new recycling processes and help build a strong market for high-quality recycled raw materials.

We will continue developing new processes at Stena Nordic Recycling Center and our other facilities across Europe, so we can take care of more complex materials in increasingly greater volumes. We also want to lead the way when it comes to battery recycling. To do this, we will continue investing in our ground-breaking battery recycling facility where we collect, reuse and recycle a wide range of batteries – from lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles to batteries from smart devices, power tools, domestic appliances and other electronic products.

With this forward-thinking approach, we can contribute to a truly circular economy where everyone benefits. We already have the materials we need – all we have to do is recreate them.

Our goal in recycling and sustainability

As well as continuing to develop and innovate within recycling, our goal is to become a trusted circular partner to those who share our values. To reach this goal, we work within three focus areas:

A small tent pitched on the Swedish west coast is illuminated as darkness falls.

1. Work towards 100% circularity

Collaborate with customers and stakeholders to enable world-leading circular solutions, focus on keeping resources and materials in the system as long as possible – reduce, reuse, recycle.

An interior shot of Stena Nordic Recycling Center – one of the most advanced recycling facilities in Europe.

2. Create high-quality recycled raw materials

We develop and invest in new recycling technologies to continuously improve recycling rates of complex fractions and create quality-assured raw materials.

A female Stena Recycling employee smiles in an office with her laptop in the foreground.

3. Become industry leader in customer interaction

We work to increase customer value by taking an industry-leading position in digitalization and conceptual solutions.

Work towards 100% circularity

To achieve 100% circularity, we must all think smart from the start. This means considering circularity as early as possible in the process – in the choice of raw materials, during product design and with the ongoing management of material flows.

In the past, we operated in the background – efficiently collecting our customers’ waste before safely transporting it for recycling. Today, we collaborate closely with customers across a wide range of industries. Through substantial investment, and using our experience and expertise, we can help contribute to a more sustainable business and create greater value – both economic and environmental.

From recycled raw materials to circular design, sorting and training

We offer more, high-quality recycled raw materials in greater volumes, which can be used to replace virgin material in production and lower climate impact. We also offer circular services within product design, efficient sorting of waste, expert training and more. We can even help you set goals and inspire employees – everything you need to ensure that your journey towards full circularity gets off to the right start.

Circular consulting and solutions

Our experts in Circular Consulting and Circular Solutions can help your business by contributing to products made from recycled materials to ensure that they can be repaired, reused and recycled in the future. They can also help optimize your material flows to improve efficiency, prevent disruption and reduce waste, risk and costs.

Discover our circular solutions and how we can optimize your material flows here

An Electrolux vacuum cleaner made in collaboration with Stena Recycling and made from 100% recycled and reused materials.

Create high-quality recycled raw materials

Over the years, we have successfully developed advanced recycling processes to produce consistently high-quality recycled raw materials for a global market. And as our investment in new recycling processes increases, so does our ability to produce higher quality recycled raw materials in ever greater volumes. One of our biggest investments is our flagship facility – Stena Nordic Recycling Center. Here, we recycle the most complex products and materials such as electronics, cars, batteries, cables and plastics from all over the world.

Since 2016 our recycling rate has increased by 30%, thanks to our investment in advanced recycling technology at Stena Nordic Recycling Center. This has resulted in more valuable material moving up the waste hierarchy and less being lost in energy recovery or ending up in landfill. We have also invested heavily in advanced recycling processes at our facilities in Denmark, Poland and Italy, which enables us to recycle more complex end-of-life products.

We have also made huge progress within battery recycling thanks to our ground-breaking new battery recycling facility, also located in Halmstad. Here, it will be possible to recycle 98% of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. Batteries from smart devices, power tools, domestic appliances and other electronic products can also be treated.

The goal is to ensure high-quality raw materials from used batteries, which can then be reintroduced back into the loop. This process will produce recycled plastic and aluminium but also, most importantly, high-quality black mass – the extracted critical resources including lithium, cobalt and nickel.

Through investments like Stena Nordic Recycling Center and our new battery recycling facility, we can solve your sustainability challenges.

Discover how we recycle different products and materials here

An aerial shot of a digger working in a scrap yard

Did you know?

100 million tonnes of new material are used globally every year. (1)

12% of material use in the EU is based on recycled materials. (2)

Become industry leader in customer interaction

As we move forward, we want to make it easier and more rewarding for our customers to interact and cooperate with us. To achieve this, digitalization is key. When you work together with Stena Recycling, our digital services and solutions are designed to solve specific problems and help you on your way to full circularity.

We offer comprehensive solutions like the Stena Customer Portal. The Customer Portal provides a complete overview of your waste data. This data can be analyzed to provide in-depth insights into material flows, improve efficiency and help make strategic decisions, so you can achieve your goals regarding, e.g. sustainability, economy, efficiency and safety. You can even use your waste data to compare your business with the rest of the industry.

We also offer digital aids to help simplify everyday operational tasks. For example: you can arrange pick-ups and transport online – quickly, conveniently and at a time that suits you and your business. You can also take advantage of our more specific digital solutions such as a digital tool that allows customers to check their handling of hazardous waste and report to the Environmental Protection Agency, which is a legal requirement.

As well as providing digital solutions for our customers, we also use them to improve our own operations. For example: to streamline transport and production flows in recycling processes. Digital solutions also help us increase our recycling rates and ensure greater traceability.

References

Stena Recycling calculation
2017 Eurostat – ec.europa.eu

https://www.stenarecycling.com/about-us/our-way-forward/