Danisco and City of Copenhagen win EU environmental awards for Denmark

The Danish Society of Engineers, IDA, today presented the EU’s environmental awards for Denmark at a ceremony in Ingeniørhuset, Copenhagen.

Two prizes were awarded in the categories ‘Product’ and ‘Management’.

Minister for the Environment, Connie Hedegaard, presented the awards to Danisco A/S and City of Copenhagen.

Danisco received the Product Award for developing GRINDSTED® SOFT-N-SAFE – an environmentally friendly plasticiser based on vegetable oil for use in PVC.

In the jury’s motivation for the award it says that the product meets long-awaited consumer demand for a replacement for plasticisers based on mineral oils such as phthalates. Plasticisers are used in a number of products like toys and food packaging.

The City of Copenhagen was presented with an award in the category ’Management’ for a project on the development of outdoor swimming areas in big cities. The jury acknowledged the project for setting a good example for ‘recreational use of former industrial harbours’. In addition, the project is commended for the positive cooperation between administration units, businesses and users.

The purpose of the awards is to promote innovative and sustainable efforts in the environmental area. The competition has two stages: The winners of the national awards will go on to a competition at European level. The European part of the competition will be held in June 2006.

In Denmark, the Danish Society of Engineers is in charge of the competition by agreement with the European Commission and the Danish Ministry of the Environment.

As a tangible proof of the recognition, the two recipients were presented with each their diploma as well as a piece of flint from Stevns Klint, Denmark.