Vi prøver at bruge mindre plastik, men det, vi har, afleverer vi til genbrug.

After prøve meaning try, Danish normally uses at + infinitive:

prøve at gøre noget = try to do something

So:

Vi prøver at bruge mindre plastik = We are trying to use less plastic

Leaving out at here would sound wrong in standard Danish.

Because plastik is being used as an uncountable material noun, like plastic in English.

• mindre = less, used with uncountable amounts
• færre = fewer, used with countable things

So:

mindre plastik = less plastic

It does not mean smaller plastic.

Danish often leaves out the article when talking about a material or a thing in general.

So:

bruge mindre plastik = use less plastic

This is general, not specific. If you meant a particular plastic, you would need a more specific form, such as plastikken or det plastik depending on the context.

It means something like what we have or, in this context, the plastic we have.

Literally, it is close to:

that which we have

Here det is a pronoun meaning that/what, not just a gender marker attached to plastik. The clause vi har describes or limits what det refers to.

So the whole part:

det, vi har, afleverer vi til genbrug

means:

what we have, we hand in for recycling

Because Danish often leaves out the relative pronoun in this kind of structure, especially after det.

So det, vi har is very natural Danish.

You could also say:

det, som vi har

but that sounds a bit heavier and is not necessary here.

A useful way to think of it is:

• det, vi har = what we have
• det, som vi har = that which we have

Both are possible, but the version without som is very common.

This is because Danish main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb normally comes in the second position.

In this sentence, det, vi har has been moved to the front for emphasis. Once that happens, the verb must come next:

Det, vi har, afleverer vi til genbrug

So the order becomes:

1. fronted element: det, vi har
2. finite verb: afleverer
3. subject: vi

A more neutral order would be:

Vi afleverer det, vi har, til genbrug

Both are correct, but the original version puts extra focus on what we have.

Because vi har is an inserted subordinate clause inside the larger sentence.

Danish uses commas more systematically around subordinate clauses than English often does, so this punctuation may look unusual to an English speaker.

So in:

det, vi har, afleverer vi til genbrug

the clause vi har is set off as part of the structure det, vi har.

You may sometimes see slight variation in comma style in modern Danish, but the grammar is the same.

aflevere means hand in, drop off, turn in, or deliver.

til genbrug means for recycling or for reuse, depending on context.

So:

aflevere til genbrug means to hand something over so it can be recycled or reused.

In natural English, this sentence part could be rendered as:

• we hand it in for recycling
• we take it to recycling
• we recycle what we have

Because genbrug is being used in a general, institutional sense, not as a specific countable object.

Danish often does this in fixed expressions after prepositions. Compare the general idea in expressions like:

• på arbejde
• i skole
• til salg
• til genbrug

So til genbrug means something like for recycling in general, not to the recycling.

Yes, absolutely.

That version is more neutral in word order:

Vi afleverer det, vi har, til genbrug

The original sentence:

Det, vi har, afleverer vi til genbrug

puts stronger focus on det, vi har after men, which helps the contrast:

• we try to use less plastic,
• but the plastic we do have, we hand in for recycling

So the difference is mostly about emphasis, not basic meaning.