In 2014, Malene Teller Blume, Quality and Development Manager for the Nordic food retailer Coop Trading and its subsidiary Coop Denmark, found herself talking about the chemical pollutant PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) on television as a guest on a popular Danish consumer program.
By 2014, PFOA, a type of PFAS, was recognized as a possible carcinogen, and leading experts stated that the TDI (tolerable daily intake) level for PFAS was 100 to 1,000 times too high, with children particularly vulnerable. Teller Blume knew that PFAS was used in packaging for Coop Trading’s more than 4,000 private label products.
Without checking with her company, Teller Blume, who is responsible for chemical strategy, decided to say publicly on the program that Coop Trading and Coop Denmark were banning PFAS in its packaging. “[I] couldn’t just say we will look into it, or we will do some monitoring; we need to be very strict about this,” said Teller Blume. “So I decided to say we have a ban. And then the hard work started.” Her manager “trusted my judgment because this was the right thing to do.”
After relating this story during a PFAS panel discussion on November 24 at the ATMOsphere (ATMO) Europe Summit 2025 in Padova, Italy, Teller Blume received one of several ovations from attendees. Later that day she accepted, on behalf of Coop Denmark, the ATMO Europe 2025 Best-in-Sector/Retail End User award in recognition of the company’s pioneering work on the PFAS issue and its environmental initiatives. The conference was organized by ATMOsphere, publisher of NaturalRefrigerants.com.
“I’ve been dedicated to [eliminating] PFAS since 2014 and besides raising my three children, this is the thing that I’m most proud of,” said Teller Blume.
Coop Denmark, at 150 years old the country’s largest retailer with more than 1,000 stores, has also been a leader in the phaseout of HFCs and is installing PFAS-free natural refrigerant systems. A complete phaseout of HFC gases with high global warming potential is planned in accordance with EU regulations, and HFCs have been reduced by 76% since 2018, said Teller Blume. Coop also plans “a technological shift to natural refrigerants” with SBTi (Science-Based Targets initiative)-validated targets. Overall, Coop Denmark aims to reduce CO₂e emissions by 75% in 2025 and 91% by 2030, compared to 2018 levels.
Coop Denmark began installing transcritical CO2 systems at its Fakta stores around 2010. (Many Fakta stores were converted to the Coop 365discount format in 2022.) The retailer has also invested in solar panels, heat pumps, heat recovery and LED lighting, purchased 23 electric delivery vans and installed charging stations at 500 stores, more than half of its locations.
First for microwave popcorn
By mid-2015 Coop Denmark had banned all PFAS-based paper and cardboard packaging with direct food contact except for microwave popcorn bags, for which there were no PFAS-free alternatives. As an interim step, the retailer pulled microwaveable popcorn from store shelves, but later that year It introduced its own PFAS-free microwaveable popcorn.
In seeking a PFAS-free microwave popcorn bag, Coop Denmark worked with its supplier, which discovered that “if they treated the paper with more heat, more water and more mechanical treatment, they didn’t have to use PFAS to cover the inside,” she said. This resulted in the world’s first PFAS-free microwave popcorn bag, making Teller Blume “famous for some months.” The U.S. state of Washington subsequently banned PFAS in food packaging, using the Coop Denmark’s popcorn bag as an inspiration.
In 2016 Coop Denmark banned PFAS in outwear, textiles and home textiles. Two years later it prohibited PFAS in cleaning, cosmetics and personal care products, and in 2023 it took aim at PFAS outdoor textiles and garden furniture. In 2024 PFAS frying pans were banned.
“I’ve been dedicated to [eliminating] PFAS since 2014 and besides raising my three children, this is the thing that I’m most proud of.”
Malene Teller Blume, Coop Denmark
Along with product bans, Coop Denmark has also contributed to national anti-PFAS legislation. It started a campaign in 2017 to ban the use of PFAS in paper and cardboard food contact materials (FCM). In September 2019 Denmark announced it would ban PFAS in FCM – the ban went into effect in July 2020 – making it the first country to do so. In addition, Coop Denmark works with organizations like ChemSec to advocate for PFAS bans at the EU level.
Teller Blume shared a video explaining how Coop Denmark was able to persuade the Danish parliament to ban PFAS in food packaging. Early on, the company organized a social media campaign, backed by consumers and directed at members of parliament, sparking a debate on the problem of hazardous chemicals. Then, “together with experts, we prepared a complete post for a bill against hazardous chemicals, which could immediately be submitted into parliament,” the video said. “The campaign quickly gained the politicians attention; to ensure that no one missed this important message, we also surrounded the parliament building.”
PFAS is not the only chemical contaminant that Coop Denmark has addressed over the course of its history, said Teller Blume; all told the company has taken 185 actions, including bans of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) in packaging in 1991, allergenic preservatives and fragrances in 1995 and bisphenol A in 2016. “We have tried to use early warnings, and also use the precautionary principle to set up requirements,” she said. “If there was a possible further solution, then we have put it in our trade agreements.”
Teller Blume has met with leading anti-PFAS figures and environmental activists such as attorney Robert Bilott and scientist Arlene Blum. Years after he first met her, Bilott mentioned to Teller Blume that he has “told your story many times when people are saying that it’s not possible to face up to PFAS.”
