Waste and recycling in Aarhus

Your waste makes a difference. It contains different resources that can be reused.

In the city of Aarhus, you must sort your waste into different types and dispose it in the waste bins where you live.

During the autumn of 2023, we will start sorting the waste more in Aarhus. You must begin when there are new waste bins at your home.

If you are waiting for the new containers to arrive, you must still sort your waste this way.

Kvinde afleverer glas og plast i nedgravet beholder til genanvendeligt affald.

How to sort your waste

Until new containers arrive at your home, you must sort your household waste into four different types.

Residual waste

  • Milk cartons
  • Juice cartons
  • Butter tubs
  • Clingfilm
  • Food waste
  • Sanitary waste
  • Tubes
  • Crisp packets
  • Coffee bags
  • Pizza boxes

Glass, hard plastics and metal

  • Glass bottles
  • Glass jars
  • Broken glass
  • Glass from cosmetics
  • Plastic bottles
  • Plastic tubs
  • Plastic trays
  • Plastic canisters
  • Plastic lids
  • Beer and soft drink cans
  • Food cans
  • Metal lids
  • Foil trays
  • Tin/aluminium foil

Paper and small cardboard items

  • Newspapers
  • Magazines
  • Flyers
  • Journals
  • Books
  • Cardboard boxes
  • Egg boxes
  • Cardboard tubes
  • Cardboard trays
  • Cardboard pieces

Batteries

  • Household batteries

  • Button cell batteries

  • Rechargeable batteries

 

Find your recycling station

At the 6 recycling stations in Aarhus you will find different containers for different kinds of waste.

There will be signs and staff at the recycling stations to guide you on how to sort your waste.

Want to know more?
Medarbejdere på genbrugsstationen står ved plast sorteringen

Get your bulky waste picked up for free

If you have your own bulky waste system where you live, you must of course use that.

If not, we will collect your bulky waste at your front door - for free. All you need to do is to book a collection in advance.

Read more about which kinds of bulky waste we collect.

Read more
To unge mennesker sætter storskrald ud foran deres opgang

Too good to throw out?

REUSE is an alternative recycling station.

You can pick up items and furniture for free as well as donate the items you no longer need, but still in a good condition. 

Visit REUSE
Ungt par kører på ladcykel med møbler fra REUSE

Do you know PANT?

'Pant' is a Danish system for recycling cans and bottles. Each time you buy drinks in cans or bottles with a deposit mark, you pay a deposit named 'pant'. 

You get your deposit back by returning empty cans and bottles using reversed vending machines in your local supermarket.

The Danish deposit mark is a series of dots under two arrows in a circle. The letter in the deposit mark indicates how much you pay and therefore how much you will get back when returning the bottle.

Read about pant