The HJHansen Group is a family-owned group of companies with roots stretching back six generations. This means that experience, tradition and continuity play a decisive role in our company spirit.

Merchant Jørgen Jacob Limkilde established a grocery shop in Vestergade in the heart of Odense. Today, more than 190 years later , the merchants house is a a welcoming and stylish headquater for the wine company.

In 1861 his son, Clemens Limkilde, took over his father’s grocery store. Clemens Limkilde initiated a specialization of the grocery store, for example with crushing spices, a coffee distillery and actual product trade. Gradually, the trade in rags, glass, legs and iron is increasingly being put into system.

The product trade develops explosively as Hans Jørgen Hansen takes over the management after his cousin Clemens Limkilde. He sees serious business opportunities in buying and reselling cloths and legs. While the cloths are sold for paper production, the bone meal is utilized in compound feed or as additives in the chemical industry.

During the 1890s, the trade in iron and metal became a more and more important part of HJHansen’s increasingly professional business base. This is not least due to increased marketing efforts with the presentation of iron and metal in the product catalog. Old horseshoes, plows, wrought iron scrap or barrel zinc are purchased from grocers, local blacksmiths and small product dealers. Once iron and metal scrap has been reprocessed, it is resold to iron foundries as well as other types of iron and metal industries.

In the 1930s, the business expanded to include a car scrapping site as well as smaller product stores in other cities.

In the late 1940s, the recycling industry moved into greater space by the Odense Canal. Here, HJHansen builds its own harbor basin for ship dismantling.

In 1949, HJHansen solved a historic task: the dismantling of the Danish frigate Peder Skram, whose fire-conductor tower was erected in 1951 at the Port of Odense. Today, the tower is HJHansen’s landmark and can be seen from the channel side..

HJHansen is expanding and in the early 1960s the yard covered over 100,000 m2.

In 1979, an important investment reaching into the future. HJHansen buys a shredder that offers significant strategic and economic benefits when it comes to iron scrap recycling. The shredder processes iron scrap to achieve a purity of up to 99%.

In 1992, HJHansen started using the Deep Sea solution at Lindoe Port of Odense. This means that vessels with a loading capacity of up to 35,000 tonnes can enter the terminal.

In 2000 Jens Hempel-Hansen was appointed CEO after his father, Hans Erik Hempel-Hansen. In the same period, HJHansen is investing in a new shredder with a main engine of 8,000 HP.

I 2002 etableres HJHansen Sverige AB i Landskrona, og to år senere – i 2004 – åbnes kontor i Shanghai. Samme år kan HJHansen fejre 175 års jubilæum.

In the period 2002-2004, HJHansen invested in a state-of-the-art refining plant. With the help of metal sensors, the plant can sort metals into different types, and with the help of a camera and the screening of the goods the plant can sort out plastic.

In September 2010, our Chinese Sales Manager is hired and our Shanghai Sales Office is established.

In the summer of 2018, HJHansen invested in a significant renewal of the refining plant, so that better and cleaner sortings of the individual metals can be made.

On May 10, 2021, HJHansen takes over the company Uniscrap, which has its headquarters in Taulov, a port area at the Port of Fredericia, and locations in Hasselager, Thisted, and Aalborg.

HJHansen Wind Decom is established as a business division that offers complete solutions for the dismantling of wind turbines and the recycling of the many resources that the wind turbine components consist of.

In the same year, HJHansen takes over the activities of Rimeco Aktieselskab at Kolding Harbor, which has chosen to further specialize in the recycling and refining of metal, iron, electronics, and cables.

HJHansen Recycling Group opens a new facility at Køge Harbor, thereby securing its 10th harbor site. It is important for them to solidify their ambition to ensure responsible production and handling of the scrap they receive.

Vesterbro Produkthandel and HJHansen Recycling Group have agreed to join forces, and therefore, HJHansen Recycling Group is taking over the majority stake in the West Jutland product trade company.