Novozymes in Copenhagen: Fuglebakken
The most important activity at Novozymes at Fuglebakken is the enzyme production comprising Fermentation, Recovery, Granulation and Standardisation. Furthermore, support functions such as maintenance laboratories and warehouses are available at the production site.
Site Fuglebakken employs persons with very different types of education, training and background: Chemists, production engineers, mechanical engineers, electricians, process operators etc. We are approximately 200 employees all working together to improve and optimise the production process. This makes Novozymes, Fuglebakken, a very dynamic and exciting place to work, and a constant challenge.
The beginning
At the beginning of the 1920s the founders of Novo, the brothers Harald and Thorvald Pedersen, started to extract insulin in Harald’s residence at Fuglebakkevej, Copenhagen. When the house became too small for production, the brothers bought a former dairy, located at the present site, and started insulin production there in 1932. The factory was named Fuglebakken after the street where it all started.
Concurrently with the growth of the business the factory has been expanded in the course of time, both in connection with the original buildings and on the area on the other side of the street. Here the present enzyme fermentation factory was built in 1967. Today the Fuglebakken factory only produces enzymes.
The Enzyme Specialists
The Fuglebakken factory has expertise in small, specialised products, which are only produced here, as the plants offer special flexibility. Fuglebakken takes care of enzymes for especially the baking industry and other products for the food industry.
Producers of wine, beer, juice and soft drinks also use the enzymes produced at Fuglebakken. For example Sweetzyme®, an enzyme that transforms glucose into syrup that is applicable in soft drinks. Furthermore, the factory makes products for the textile industry, for example enzymes for preparation of denim.
Typically, a new enzyme will be introduced at Fuglebakken, as it is convenient to set op pilot plant projects here. If the product later on grows to a certain size, production will be moved to bigger plants at other production sites, unless it is one of the special competency fields of Fuglebakken.
First mover as to environment
The factory is located in an area with high population density in an older area of Copenhagen. According to Danish standards it is very unusual for a factory to be located that close to ordinary buildings and residential property and this puts the factory under special obligations. Many initiatives have been taken to improve the environment including combustion of the fermentation air, which eliminates obnoxious smells.
At Fuglebakken it is a tradition to arrange neighbour meetings once a year, where the neighbours can visit the production site and get answers to their questions. As the first entity in the Novo group, the enzyme production at Fuglebakken has been certified according to the environmental protection system ISO 14001.