The basis of H.J.Hansen`s Recycling division was formed with Clemens Limkilde`s takeover of his father`s grocery store in 1861.

It started on a modest scale with the grocery store specialising in the crushing of spices, and including a coffee distillery and an authentic junk dealer. Gradually he began to deal more with cloth, broken glass, bone and ferrous.

The product trade developed quickly after Hans Jørgen Hansen`s takeover of the grocery store in 1888. The new owner, who was a cousin of Clemens Limkilde, saw the potential benefits of buying and reselling cloth and bones. While the cloth was sold for the production of paper, the bone meal was used in feed mixtures or as additives in the chemical industry.

Trading with ferrous and non-ferrous scrap became an increasingly important aspect of the business during the 1890`s. An increased marketing effort was an important part of this, as ferrous and non-ferrous goods were featured in catalogues.

Ferrous and non-ferrous scrap – from old horse shoes and ploughs – was bought from shopkeepers, local blacksmiths and small product dealers.

When the ferrous and non-ferrous scrap was developed, it was then sold to ferrous foundries and other organisations in the ferrous and non-ferrous industries. H.J.Hansen supplied ferrous scrap to two firms on the Danish island of Fyn, the Kerteminde Ferrous Foundry and The Machine Factory, Svendborg.

The product trading expanded in the 1930s with a scrap yard for cars, and in the late 1940s, the organisation moved into its own premises near Odense canal where the firm built its own dock basin for breaking up ships.

ELV Scrap Recycling

H.J.Hansen can draw on its experience of generatio...