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Recycling’s fresh faces
For more and more young, talented people the recycling industry has become an
attractive environment to work in. Here some of these newcomers discuss making
their way in the global scrap scene.
Stefan Vibaek.
A U T H O R S Kirstin Linnenkoper, Martijn Reintjes
HJHANSEN’S NEW KIDS ON THE
BLOCK
The recycling industry is still pretty
much a closed world, observes
Rebekka Lorentzen Storgaard (31) of
Denmark. ‘We need to open up more
and show society the great things
happening behind the walls of all
those yards and facilities,’ says
HJHansen Recycling Group’s commu-
nication manager in a video chat from
the company’s HQ at Odense in cen-
tral Denmark.
HJHansen is a good example of a
recycler and employer that has
opened up to welcome the outside
world, including those with talents
other than recycling backgrounds.
Lorentzen Storgaard is living proof of
that. ‘Before I joined the company in
2022, I worked for Danish coffee
brand Peter Larsen Kaffe.’
Another newcomer at HJHansen is
Stefan Vibaek (29), a former store
manager at Danish bicycle retailer
Design Cykler. ‘On the way to work, I
always passed the yard without really
knowing what was going on here. I
was curious so when there was a job
opportunity, I applied.
‘I believe I was a good bicycle seller
and that experience helps me in my
current sales position. But I’m still
learning. Scrap was completely new
for me and you learn most of the
knowledge about products and
procedures on the job by simply
doing it.’
Vibaek is junior product manager fer-
rous. He buys and sells scrap domesti-
Rebekka Lorentzen Storgaard.
cally and globally, mainly within
Europe but also overseas. His first big
business trip was to India for the
MRAI conference in Kochi and, while
in Chennai and Mumbai, he visited
recycling facilities. ‘It was overwhelm-
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