Jeg skyller emballagen, tager låget af og skiller materialerne ad.

Because Danish, like English, often uses one subject for a series of coordinated verbs.

So:

Jeg skyller emballagen, tager låget af og skiller materialerne ad.

means:

I rinse the packaging, remove the lid, and separate the materials.

You do not need to repeat jeg before tager and skiller, because it is understood that the same person is doing all three actions.

You could repeat it for emphasis, but normally you would not:

• Jeg skyller emballagen, jeg tager låget af, og jeg skiller materialerne ad.

That sounds more heavy and less natural in this context.

This is very common in Danish instructions and general descriptions of what one does.

Even though English often uses the imperative in instructions, Danish can use the present tense to describe a routine or recommended action:

• Jeg skyller ... = I rinse ...
• Jeg tager ... af = I remove ...
• Jeg skiller ... ad = I separate ...

In a recycling guide or explanation, this can sound like:

• This is what I do
• This is what one does
• The correct procedure is to...

An imperative version would also be possible:

• Skyl emballagen, tag låget af og skil materialerne ad.

That would mean Rinse the packaging, remove the lid, and separate the materials.

Emballage means packaging.

The form emballagen is the definite form, meaning:

• the packaging

In Danish, definiteness is often added as an ending instead of using a separate word like the.

So:

• emballage = packaging
• emballagen = the packaging

This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice in Danish.

These are also definite forms.

• låg = lid

• låget = the lid

• materialer = materials
• materialerne = the materials

So the sentence uses specific things:

• the packaging
• the lid
• the materials

That fits the context, because we are talking about a particular item and its parts.

Because tage ... af is a common Danish verb phrase meaning to take/remove something off.

So:

• tage låget af = remove the lid

The word af is a particle that belongs with the verb, but in main clauses it often appears later in the sentence, after the object.

Compare:

• Jeg tager låget af.
• Han tog skoene af.
• Vi tager etiketten af.

This is similar to English phrasal verbs like:

• take off the lid
• take the lid off

So tage ... af works a lot like an English verb + particle structure.

Skille ... ad is another verb phrase, and it means to separate something into parts or to take something apart.

So:

• skille materialerne ad = separate the materials

Just like tage ... af, this is a verb with a particle:

• skille ... ad

The particle ad helps create the meaning of separation.

Examples:

• Jeg skiller den ad. = I take it apart.
• Skil delene ad. = Separate the parts.

So in your sentence, skiller alone would not give the full intended meaning. Ad is important.

Yes, emballagen is singular, but it often works like a collective noun.

In English, packaging can also refer to the whole package material as one thing. Danish uses emballage in a similar way.

So emballagen does not necessarily mean only one tiny piece of packaging. It can mean:

• the packaging as a whole
• the container/wrapping of the item

Then the sentence becomes more specific:

1. rinse the packaging
2. remove the lid
3. separate the materials

Yes, but it is very normal Danish word order.

The pattern is:

• Jeg = subject
• skyller = verb
• emballagen = object

Then two more coordinated verb phrases:

• tager låget af
• skiller materialerne ad

So the structure is basically:

Subject + verb + object, verb + object + particle, and verb + object + particle

That is natural Danish when listing actions.

Also notice that the particles af and ad come after the object:

• tager låget af
• skiller materialerne ad

That is one of the patterns English speakers often need to get used to.

Not exactly. Skyller usually means rinse rather than wash.

So:

• skylle = to rinse
• vaske = to wash

In recycling or packaging instructions, rinse is usually the better translation, because the idea is often just to remove leftover food or liquid, not to clean it thoroughly with soap.

So:

• Jeg skyller emballagen = I rinse the packaging

is more accurate than I wash the packaging.

It can be used in everyday Danish, but it sounds especially natural in an explanatory or instructional context, such as recycling, sorting waste, or describing a routine.

For example, it would fit well in:

• a recycling guide
• an environmental campaign
• a description of how to sort household waste

In casual speech, a Dane might still say something very similar, especially when explaining what they do:

• Jeg skyller emballagen, tager låget af og skiller materialerne ad, før jeg smider det ud.

So the sentence is perfectly normal Danish, but the topic makes it sound a bit like instructions.