What Aage Vestergaard Larsen does

Aage Vestergaard Larsen A/S (AVL) is a privately held Danish mechanical plastic recycler founded in 1972 and headquartered in Mariager, Denmark. The company regenerates post-industrial and post-consumer plastic waste into high-quality pellets, granules, and powders spanning common thermoplastics (PP, PE, PS, ABS) and technical plastics (PA, POM, PET, PBT, PSU, PEEK). It operates on a 100,000 m² site that processes approximately 15,000 tons of plastic waste annually and is self-described as Scandinavia's largest plastic recycling company.

AVL runs three integrated production lines — its VSA washing and sorting plant, the Pippi line dedicated to Swedish and Danish household-sorted plastic, and the patent-pending Georg machine that washes, sorts and dries post-consumer plastic to roughly double recoverable yields. An in-house laboratory performs MFI, DSC, FT-IR, XRF, density, tensile, impact and moisture testing, with a minimum three-year sample archive; products are RecyClass and EuCertPlast certified and meet ISO 9001, 14001 and 50001 standards, with REACH-compliant safety documentation. Approximately DKK 10M has been invested in a 2025-commissioned microplastic filtration system, and it leads the ~DKK 19M MUDP-funded Project CRISP targeting 30,000 tons of household packaging annually.

Revenue is generated through three streams: unit-priced sales of recycled plastic raw materials on Ex Works (Incoterms 2020) terms with net-cash invoicing; fee-for-service contract work (regeneration, grinding, fine milling, compounding) on customer-supplied production waste; and custom B2B compounding for virgin-plastic processors. Customers include plastic manufacturers (Dania Plast, Schela Plast, H.P Industrial), FMCG brands and retailers (G. Funder, ICA Sverige, Nopa Nordic, Arla, Nestlé Nordics, Mariager Saltcenter), aquaculture operators (Snaptun Fisk), and feedstocks sourced from industrial waste generators and Svensk Plaståtervinning in Sweden. The company is family-owned, operates a sales-led direct model via named account managers, and has no disclosed external funding rounds.

Name

Aage Vestergaard Larsen

Legal name

Aage Vestergaard Larsen A/S

Website

https://avl.dk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Aage Vestergaard Larsen A/S (AVL) is Scandinavia's largest mechanical plastic recycler, founded 1972 in Mariager, Denmark. It converts post-industrial and post-consumer plastic waste into certified recycled pellets, granules and powders for plastic manufacturers and FMCG brands across the Nordics.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recycled Plastic Materials / Mechanical Plastic Recycling

NAICS

Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing (326)

akta.pro primary industry

Plastic & Rubber Recycling, Reprocessing & Pelletizing (IMANAOAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Plastic Recycling Equipment & Technology Providers (Sorting, Washing, Extrusion) (EUAIAKAM)

Keywords

• Plastic recycling
• Recycled plastic materials
• Mechanical plastic recycling
• Plastic compounding services
• Post-consumer plastic processing

Headquarters

HQ city

Mariager

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Recycled Plastic Pellets, Granules and Powders: AVL sells recycled plastic raw material in the form of pellets, granules, and powders. The company processes plastic waste (post-industrial and post-consumer) into high-quality regenerated plastic raw material. Materials include common types (PE, PP, PS, ABS) and technical types (PA, POM, PET, PBT, PSU, PEEK). Products are sold to plastic manufacturing companies. Delivery terms are Ex Works (Incoterms 2020). Payment terms are net cash upon receipt of invoice.
2. Contract Work / Toll Processing (Lønarbejde): AVL processes customers' own production waste or defective items, returning the reprocessed material to the customer. Services include grinding, regeneration, and fine milling. Customers receive technical data sheets with relevant information. This is a processing fee model where the customer provides material and pays for processing.
3. B2B Compounding Services (Virgin Plastic): AVL performs compounding tasks for plastic producing companies requiring specific properties in end products, such as adding wood (WPC) or BaSo. Also performs milling tasks for raw material suppliers and masterbatch manufacturers. This is a fee-for-service model.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Aage Vestergaard Larsen A/S (AVL) is Scandinavia's largest mechanical plastic recycling company, processing post-industrial and post-consumer plastic waste into high-quality recycled plastic pellets, granules, and powders. The company supplies these recycled materials—covering common (PE, PP, PS, ABS) and technical (PA, POM, PET, PBT, PSU, PEEK) plastics—to plastic manufacturers, brand owners, and FMCG companies across the Nordic region. AVL also provides contract manufacturing services such as regeneration, grinding, fine milling, density sorting, and custom compounding, plus in-house laboratory and quality control services. Products are sold Ex Works (Incoterms 2020) from the company's Mariager, Denmark facility.

Product overview

Aage Vestergaard Larsen A/S is Scandinavia's largest plastic recycling company offering a comprehensive portfolio of recycled plastic products and manufacturing services. The core product offering includes recycled plastic in three primary forms: granules/pellets, ground/milled materials, and powders, spanning both common thermoplastics (PP, PE, PS, ABS) and technical plastics (PA, POM, PET, PBT, PSU, PEEK, PMMA). Supporting the product portfolio are contract manufacturing services (compounding, fine milling, grinding, regeneration, washing, sorting, agglomeration) and an in-house laboratory providing quality control and material testing services. The company operates production lines including 'Pippi' for household plastic recycling and the 'Georg' system for household-sorted plastic processing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CIRKLA: An academy/learning portal for recycled plastic and circular economy, established in collaboration with Industriens Fond, Plastindustrien, Aalborg Universitet, and PlanMiljø in 2018. Became a standalone business unit for plastic packaging for cosmetics and hygiene in 2024.

Products and services

• Recycled Plastic Granules/Pellets Recycled plastic raw material in pellet/granule form, available in standard and technical plastic types including PP, PE, PS, ABS, PA, POM, PET, PBT, PSU, and PEEK. Products are sold to plastic manufacturing companies for use in injection moulding, extrusion, blow moulding, FIM, and rotational moulding. Most products are RecyClass certified.
• Recycled Plastic Ground/Milled Material Ground and milled recycled plastic materials produced through grinding, fine milling, and agglomeration processes for various industrial applications.
• Recycled Plastic Powder Finely milled recycled plastic powder available in various plastic types for industrial applications requiring fine particle materials.
• Contract Manufacturing Services (Lønarbejde / Toll Processing) Contract work / toll processing services including regeneration, grinding, fine milling, density sorting, and compounding of both common thermoplastics (PP, PE, PS, ABS) and technical plastics (PA, POM, PET, PBT). Customers send their production waste or defective items and receive reprocessed material with technical data sheets. Includes custom compounding with additives such as wood (WPC) or BaSo.
• Laboratory and Quality Control Services In-house laboratory services offering plastic identification and physical, chemical, and mechanical property testing. Tests include tensile testing, impact strength analysis, DSC thermal analysis, FT-IR and XRF chemical composition analysis, MFI melt flow testing, density measurement, particle distribution, and moisture measurement. All samples are archived for a minimum of 3 years.
• Georg – Household Plastic Recycling System Proprietary machine developed for processing household-sorted plastic waste into high-quality recycled raw material. Washes, sorts, and dries plastic and can reportedly double the proportion of plastic that gets recycled. Patent-pending; developed through a MUDP project, operational since approximately 2020.
• Pippi – Production Line for Household Plastic Specialized production line for processing household-sorted plastic waste (post-consumer) from Denmark and Sweden, separating PE and PP fractions for use in new plastic packaging. Produces EuCertPlast certified output and is named 'Pippi' in company communications.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30-40% cost savings on raw material vs virgin plastic
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CRISP Project Consortium (Arla Foods amba, Nestlé Nordics, Amcor, Pharma-Tech, Svensk Plaståtervinning, VANA, Teknologisk Institut)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2025AVL leads Project CRISP (Circular Recycling Innovation for Sustainable Packaging) — a MUDP-funded project with ~DKK 19M budget. Partners span the full value chain: dairy (Arla), food (Nestlé), packaging manufacturers (Amcor, Pharma-Tech), recycler (Svensk Plaståtervinning), industry association (VANA), and research institute (Teknologisk Institut). Goal: full-scale circular recycling of household plastic packaging (PE/PP), targeting 30,000 tons/year.
• Svensk PlaståtervinningcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Svensk Plaståtervinning in Motala supplies Swedish household-sorted plastic waste to AVL. This partnership enables AVL's Pippi production line to process Swedish post-consumer plastic into PE and PP fractions for use in new circular packaging products. The collaboration is central to AVL's Nordic circular economy model.
• ICA SverigecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023ICA Sverige partnered with AVL, Svensk Plaståtervinning, and Nopa Nordic to launch a circular packaging product — Skona textile wash in bottles made from 98% recycled HDPE sourced from Swedish household plastic processed by AVL. ICA is the retailer bringing the sustainable product to Swedish consumers.
• Nopa Nordic A/ScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Nopa Nordic A/S fills the 98% recycled HDPE bottles produced from AVL-processed Swedish plastic with textile wash detergent for ICA Sverige. This partnership completes the circular packaging value chain from Swedish household plastic to consumer product.
• Dania Plast A/ScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership where Dania Plast purchases recycled plastic raw material from AVL for injection molding. Most notably, Dania Plast developed and patented RK BioElements (bio media for fish farm water treatment), using recycled PP from AVL processed from Snaptun Fisk's used biomedia. Also partnered on circular packaging for Mariager Saltcenter (87% recycled PP).
• G. Funder A/ScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerG. Funder sources 100% Danish recycled PP from AVL for its environmental product line including dish brushes, buckets, and tubs. AVL's regenerat is processed from Danish household plastic waste. The partnership enables G. Funder to save more than 3 kg CO₂ per kg of regenerat used.
• Plastindustrien (Danish Plastics Federation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAVL is an active member of Plastindustrien's Genanvendelsessektion (Recycling Section). Collaborated on the 2-year project 'Genanvendelse af plast – en styrket dansk industri' (2018-2020) with DKK 3M funding from Industriens Fond. AVL CEO Franz Cuculiza and Chairman Gitte Buk Larsen signed the European Plastics Pact in 2020.
• CIRKLA.dk (now independent)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCIRKLA (meaning 'circular' in Esperanto) was established October 2018 as a collaboration between Industriens Fond, Plastindustrien, Aalborg Universitet, PlanMiljø, and AVL. It operated as a learning portal for recycled plastic with 246 participants from 177 companies in 2019. CIRKLA is now an independent business unit for plastic packaging to cosmetics and hygiene, still based at AVL's Mariager facility.
• Aalborg UniversitetcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in multiple R&D projects including the 2-year 'Genanvendelse af plast – en styrket dansk industri' project (2018-2020) funded by Industriens Fond. Also involved in MUDP projects for developing household plastic recycling technology and GUDP CAPIaF project for food-contact recycled plastic.
• Teknologisk Institut (Technological Institute)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in MUDP project developing the Georg machine for household plastic recycling, working alongside AVL, Reno-Nord, four other companies, and Miljøstyrelsen. Also a partner in the CRISP project (2025).
• Schela PlastcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSchela Plast molded the 98% recycled HDPE bottles for ICA's Skona textile wash product, using granulat supplied by AVL from Swedish household plastic processed through the Pippi line.
• H.P IndustrialcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorH.P Industrial manufactures G. Funder's environmental product line (dish brushes, buckets, etc.) using recycled PP supplied by AVL and processed from Danish household plastic waste.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• MBA Polymers: Global mechanical recycler producing recycled plastics (PP, PE, ABS) from end-of-life durable goods and post-consumer waste. Operates the same multi-step mechanical recycling process (sorting, washing, compounding) into recycled pellets/granules, making it a strong direct technical peer to AVL.
• Plastix A/S: Danish mechanical recycler of post-consumer and post-industrial plastic into rPET, rPE, and rPP pellets. Closest direct competitor in the Nordics on feedstock type, mechanical recycling process, and end-market, making it the most direct peer to AVL.
• Stena Recycling AB: Sweden-headquartered recycler operating mechanical plastic recycling lines that supply Nordic plastics manufacturers. Direct Nordic peer competing for household-stream feedstock and serving the same Scandinavian customer base as AVL.
• Nölle Kunststofftechnik: German mechanical recycler producing recycled plastic compounds and granulates for injection moulding and extrusion. Direct European peer with the same mechanical regeneration, grinding, and compounding workflow as AVL, serving European plastics manufacturers.
• CarbonLite Holdings: US-based mechanical plastic recycler producing food-grade rPET and rHDPE pellets from post-consumer bottles. Compares to AVL on the food-contact certified recycled pellet business and the focus on circular packaging for FMCG customers.

Broad incumbents

• Remondis SE & Co. KG: One of Europe's largest recycling and water services companies, with growing plastic recycling capacity. Comparable to AVL as a regional incumbent that operates recycling lines for industrial and post-consumer plastic streams across Europe.
• Veolia Environnement: Global environmental services major with significant plastic recycling operations in Europe. Operates broader waste and recycling services rather than specializing in mechanical plastic pellet production, but increasingly competes for the same Nordic and European recycled-pellet demand.
• PreZero (Schwarz Group / Suez): European recycling and waste management company operating plastic sorting and recycling facilities. Overlaps with AVL on recycling feedstock and post-consumer plastic processing, but as part of a much broader environmental services portfolio.
• Renewi plc: European waste-to-product company with plastics recycling operations producing recycled polymers from post-consumer streams. A broad European incumbent that competes with AVL for the same regulatory-driven demand for certified recycled plastics.

Emerging players

• Borealis (Borcycle): Polyolefin producer with a mechanical and advanced recycling line (Borcycle) producing recycled PP/PE for packaging applications. Comparable to AVL on the certified recycled-polyolefin output and on selling into FMCG/packaging customers, but as a major integrated chemicals player rather than a specialist recycler.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/AageVestergaardLarsen
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aage-vestergaard-larsen-a-s
• Xx.com/AVL_dk

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aage Vestergaard Larsen