Below, the separate sources producing waste are commented on. The status in 1996 is compared to the status in 1985, the ISAG report for 1994 and 1995 as well as the target figures for the year 2000 in the Government’s Action Plan for Waste and Recycling. This comparison is shown as diagrams. The specific figures are given in Annex 1, Table 2.

In general, this comparison shows that the level of recycling of building and construction waste, residual products from coal-fired power stations and sludge from municipal sewage treatment plants is high in comparison with the targets. Recycling for the manufacturing sector attained the targets for the year 2000, whereas landfilling was still a good way from the target of 10%. Recycling of waste from institutions, trade and offices is half way to attaining the target, and waste for landfilling must be reduced considerably in order to attain the target figure of 0% by the year 2000. As far as households are concerned, the recycling of waste remained, as in 1994 and 1995, far from the target of 40-50% recycling by the year 2000. The main contribution to this is presupposed to be in the form of increased recycling of paper and the organic fraction of domestic waste. On the other hand, the target for the recycling of garden waste has been attained with a good margin.

The waste from households consists mainly of domestic waste, bulky waste and garden waste. The total production of waste by households is 2,767,000 tonnes. The composition of waste from households in 1996 is shown in Fig. 8.

Source: ISAG-reports 1996. Legend: clockwise from top.

The figure shows that two thirds of the waste from households are found in the category "Various combustible", whereas only 6% is characterised as "Various non-combustible".

Table 12 shows the total production for 1994, 1995 and 1996, distributed by fractions to the extent that it has been possible to record them individually.

Source: ISAG-reports 1994, 1995 and 1996

From 1994 to 1996 there has been a considerable increase in the amounts of garden waste (branches, leaves, grass etc.). The increase in the registered amount of garden waste of a little less than 138,000 tonnes accounts for more than 70% of the total registered increase in all waste from households. The increase in the total amount of waste from households must thus be seen first and foremost as a result of well working municipal schemes for collection of garden waste.

The quantity of "various non-combustible" from households has decreased for the second year in succession. This means a decrease in the waste fraction that is typically sent to landfilling. This is an indication of a continued improvement of the sorting of waste from households, especially with regard to bulky waste.

From 1994 to 1996 an increase in collected food waste/other organic waste from households of some 13,000 tonnes is seen.

The quantity of paper and cardboard from households has decreased from 1995 to 1996 by around 7% corresponding to 13,000 tonnes, but is still above the 1994 level. In total, the ISAG-reports for 1996 show a decrease in the total collected amount of paper and cardboard of 9,000 tonnes. The decrease in collected paper and cardboard according to reports is thus especially due to a decrease of the collected amount from households. Whether an actual decrease has taken place or whether reporters in some cases have had difficulties in distinguishing if the paper comes from households or trade/offices, is not possible to assess on the available basis.

A similar problem is seen with regard to the amounts of collected bottles and glass. From 1995 to 1996 there has been an increase of almost 19,000 tonnes, whereas from 1994 to 1995 there was an almost identical decrease. Furthermore, the increase from 1995 to 1996 shall be seen in the context of a decrease of collected bottles and glass from trade and offices. In both situations, the Environmental Protection Agency assesses that the reason shall be found in the difficulty for the reporters to distinguish between bottles and glass directly from households and bottles and glass collected via shops.

Domestic waste from households consists of the waste that results from normal consumption in private households, i.e. paper, bottles and glass, organic food waste, and miscellaneous waste, which is collected at regular intervals, normally weekly or every second week, as separately collected paper, glass or food waste or as bagged waste.

Fig. 9 shows that from 1995 to 1996 quantities of domestic waste from households increased slightly from 1,628,000 tonnes to 1,655,000 tonnes. Compared to 1994, the amount of domestic waste is largely unchanged. The absolute increase in recycling from 1995 to 1996 was 12,000 tonnes and in percentages it increased from 14% to 15%.

Source: ISAG-reports 1994, 1995and 1996 and The Government’s Action Plan for Waste and Recycling 1993-97.

Absolute levels of recycling of domestic waste from households increased by more than 2½ times between 1985 and 1996. Expressed in percent, the increase was from 8% in 1985 to 15% in 1996.

The figure shows that there is still far to go to attain the target of 40-50% by the year 2000. The action plan presupposes that the main contribution to this will be in the form of recycling of paper and the organic fraction of domestic waste.

According to the target, the landfilling of domestic waste from households shall be 0% by the year 2000. Both the absolute quantity and in percentages, landfilling dropped considerably between 1985 and 1996. The absolute decrease from 1985 to 1996 is from 204,000 tonnes to 132,000 tonnes. Only from 1995 to 1996, a decrease is seen from 190,000 tonnes to 132,000 tonnes which is primarily due to the new waste incineration plant in the city of Odense (Fynsværket) which was put into operation in the beginning of 1996. This means that domestic waste from this area is incinerated instead of landfilled.

The major part of domestic waste from households was still incinerated in 1996 (77%), as it was in 1985 (75%).

The quantity of bulky waste from households was 639,000 tonnes in 1996. This represents a slight increase of 19,000 tonnes as compared to 1995. The quantities and percentages of incinerated bulky waste were considerably greater in 1996 than in 1985. Concerning landfilling, the quantity has decreased slightly from 1995 to 1996 with 11,000 tonnes, which corresponds to a reduction of 3%.

The quantity of bulky waste for landfilling has increased considerably since 1985: from 219,000 tonnes in 1985 to 275,000. However, in percentages a considerable reduction from 73% to 43% has been registered, as the quantity of bulky waste has increased by more than 100%.

Source: ISAG-reports 1994, 1995 and 1996 and The Government’s Action Plan for Waste and Recycling 1993-97.

Garden waste from households amounted to 401,000 tonnes in 1996. The percentage of garden waste for recycling is as high as 97%, which is above the level set as the target for the year 2000. In relation to 1985 the quantity of garden waste sent for landfilling has dropped significantly. In 1985, 50% was landfilled, whereas only 2% is landfilled in 1996.

Source: ISAG-reports 1994, 1995 and 1996 and The Government’s Action Plan for Waste and Recycling 1993-97.

The steep rise from 1995 to 1996 of 75,000 tonnes in the garden waste quantities from households is not only due to an actual increase. Some 20,000 tonnes come from plants that should have reported in 1994 and 1995, but which did not do so until 1996. The rest of the increase must be seen as a result of extended use of municipal schemes for garden waste.

The total per capita quantity of waste from households is often used as a unit of measurement. However, it is also important to distinguish between the part of the waste from households that is collected separately, through municipal collection schemes/delivered to container stations, and the part that is residual waste, which is collected through traditional domestic waste collection. This makes it easier to understand the trend in waste quantities.

Table 13 shows the per capita and per household production of waste from households. The table comprises both waste types and waste fractions.

Source: ISAG-reports 1995 and1996. Population figures and number of households per 1st January 1996 and 1st January 1997 respectively have been used.

As can be seen from the table, about half of the production of waste from households is collected in municipal schemes which permit the separate collection/delivery of waste. In other words, households carry out extensive separation of waste.

The 1985 waste survey revealed that households produced 1,900,000 tonnes of waste, corresponding to 371 kg per capita, or 880 kg per household. There is greater uncertainty in the figures for 1985 than in those for 1995 and 1996. If it is assumed that the figures for 1985 did not underestimate the actual production of waste from households, there has been an increase of 154 kg per capita, or 42%. The increase per household is somewhat lower, i.e. 31% or 277 kg.

However, it is important to bear in mind that almost 40% of the per capita increase, i.e. 60 kg out of 154 kg, was due to increased quantities of bulky waste. A significant part of this increase should be seen in the context of the increased purchasing power of households, which has resulted in the purchasing of new furniture, hard white goods, etc., and thus an increased need to dispose of discarded products. At the same time, the municipal schemes for the collection of bulky waste were expanded considerably during the period in question.

The Dutch Ministry of Environment published in February 1997 a study of waste production from households (household waste) and the quantity of waste collected by or on behalf of the local authorities (municipal waste) in a number of European countries. Table 14 shows the results of the Dutch study.

Source: "Comparison of household waste figures for various countries in Europe, The Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment, 1997. The figures from DK are from the ISAG report, 1994. The figures from Belgium are covering only Flanders and 41 kg is construction and demolition waste.

This study shows that there has been a general increasing trend in the production of waste from households in all countries since 1990. Furthermore, the study shows that Denmark has the greatest per capita production of waste from households, followed by Germany, Belgium (Flanders) and Holland. The high figures for Denmark are due in particular to the large quantities of collected bulky waste and garden waste, in comparison with the quantities of other countries.

On the other hand, Denmark’s per capita production of mixed domestic waste from households is low, at the same level as that of Holland and Belgium and somewhat lower than France, Sweden and Germany. The small quantity of glass collected in Denmark should first and foremost be explained by the fact that the Danish system of returnable bottles means that the bottles are refilled up to about 35 times, and are therefore not included as waste. The use of non-returnable bottles is much more widespread in other countries. A further explanation is found in the ISAG reports that undoubtedly underestimate the quantity of collected glass from households in relation to the quantity from trade and offices, cf. section 6.1.1.

The Dutch study was motivated by the desire for a more detailed picture of factors underlying the figures for the total production of waste from households, which are published at regular intervals by the OECD and Eurostat. OECD and Eurostat publish only the total figures for the waste production of households and do not distinguish between the individual fractions of the waste production.

Even though the national differences should be considered with certain reservations concerning recording methods, the Dutch study shows that smoothly operating schemes for bulky waste and organic waste are of major significance to the total recorded production of waste from households.

As an example, table 14 shows that for Sweden and Norway no garden waste and bulky waste has been listed. Naturally, this does not mean that this waste type is not produced by the households of these two countries, it only shows that this waste is disposed of in another way and that no registration is made.

The quantity of waste from institutions, trade and offices was in 1996 854,000 tonnes. The composition of waste from these sources was in 1996 as shown in Fig. 12.

It is seen that a relatively large part of the waste (20%) is paper and cardboard which is sorted and collected separately. Half of the waste quantity is "various combustible" which may contain further amounts of non-separated paper and cardboard.

The quantity of waste from institutions, trade and offices of 854,000 tonnes was in 1996 almost unchanged compared to 834,000 tonnes in 1995.

Source: ISAG-reports 1994, 1995 and 1996 and The Government’s Action Plan for Waste and Recycling 1993-97.

No significant changes in the treatment of waste from institutions, trade and offices have taken place from 1995 to 1996. This means that there is still a way to go before these sources have reached the target of the Action Plan of 0% landfilling and 60% recycling.

The quantity of waste from the manufacturing industry amounted in 1996 to 2,632,000 tonnes. Iron and metal, various combustible, various non-combustible and beet soil from the sugar industry form the biggest single fraction, as can be seen from Fig.14.

Source: ISAG report 1996, Danisco, Association of Danish Recycling Industries and other bigger scrap dealers. Legend: Clockwise from top.

The quantity of industrial waste showed a net increase of about 59,000 tonnes from 1995 to 1996. The increase is first and foremost due to the fact that beet soil from the sugar industry has increased by some 100,000 tonnes from 215,000 tonnes in 1995 to 315,000 tonnes in 1996. The reason for the increased quantity of waste from the harvesting of sugar beets is to be found in the humid conditions prevailing at the sugar beet season.

Source: ISAG-reports 1994, 1995 and 1996, Danisco, Association of Danish Recycling Industries and other bigger scrap dealers and The Government’s Action Plan for Waste and Recycling 1993-97.

Beet soil is landfilled. This also has an impact on the total amount of landfilled manufacturing waste. This quantity increased by 43,000 tonnes from 779,000 tonnes in 1995 to 822,000 tonnes in 1996. This means that the waste amounts for landfilling from the remaining part of industry would have decreased by some 60,000 tonnes, if the amount of beet soil had remained unchanged. Regardless of the impact of beet soil, there is still a way to go before industry has reached the target of the Action Plan of 10% landfilling in the year 2000.

The recycling rate from industry is 53% and thus at a level which is within the target figures for the year 2000 of 50-60%.

The quantity of waste from building and construction activities in 1996 amounted to 3,086,000 tonnes. Building and construction waste mainly consists of concrete, asphalt, other building and construction waste as well as soil and stones (see also figure 16).

Source: ISAG report 1996. Legend: Clockwise from top.

In comparison with 1995 the quantity of waste from building and construction activities has increased by 527,000 tonnes in 1996. The recycling rate of building and construction waste remains very high, viz. 89% (figure 17).

The large gross increase in the quantity of building and construction waste is not actual for around 210,000 tonnes, as this amount should have been reported the year before, but was first included in 1996. Furthermore, a single enterprise has reported to have processed an additional amount of 70,000 tonnes of building and construction waste in 1996 in relation to 1995. Furthermore, the increase is first and foremost concentrated on the processing of concrete which has seen an increase in 1996 of 457,000 tonnes.

Source: ISAG-reports 1994, 1995 and 1996 and The Governments Action Plan for Waste and Recycling 1993-97.

A large part of the building and construction waste is processed by mobile crushing plants moved around the country for various users. In certain cases, both the owner of the crushing plant and the client report. In co-operation with the reporters for building and construction waste, the Environmental Protection Agency has tried to quality control the reports in order to avoid double counting. The Environmental Protection Agency assesses that for 1996 there may be a certain double counting, but it does not change the main trend showing a considerable increase in 1996 in the quantity of building and construction waste. The increase also corresponds to the fact that in 1996 there was a high activity level in the building and construction industry.

Despite the increase in building and construction waste amounts, the target figures for the year 2000 of 85% recovery have been more than met. The figures for 1996 confirm the trend that was ascertained as early as 1993, 1994 and 1995 in conjunction with reporting to ISAG.

The quantities of residual products from coal-fired power stations vary somewhat from year to year. These residual products consist of slag, fly ash, gypsum, flue gas cleaning residuals and sulphuric acid. In 1996 the production of residuals was especially large due to the fact that Denmark had a big net export of electricity to Norway and Sweden.

Fig. 18 shows that there was a high degree of recycling (70%) of residual products from coal-fired power stations in 1996 corresponding to 1,629,000 tonnes. Of this, 172,000 tonnes were exported for recovery. Furthermore, it can be seen that there has been a large increase in the amount of residual products for landfilling from net 135,000 tonnes in 1995 to 703,000 tonnes in 1996.

Source: ISAG-reports 1994, 1995 and 1996 and The Government’s Action Plan for Waste and Recycling 1993-97.

In table 15 is shown how residual products from coal-fired power stations are recycled. The table shows that almost 60% of residuals are applied as recycled materials in connection with industrial production.

The remaining part of the residual products is recovered. This is done either in accordance with the regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency Statutory Order no. 586 of 6th December 1983: the residues are used in connection with building and construction works in the form of filling material below buildings, roads and squares, filling of wire ditches or as the core of noise barriers or similar. Or it is done in the form of filling material which has required an approval under Part 5 of the Environmental Protection Act. Typically, this means the application for land reclamation.

Fig. 19 shows quantities of sludge from municipal waste water treatment plants. The statement only shows sludge and thus neither sand nor screenings.

Source: ISAG-report 1994, 1995 and 1996, the counties’ reports in 1994 and 1995 to the Environmental Protection Agency about sludge for recovery on farmland etc., the sludge incinerators reports in 1994 and 1995 and incineration, the Government’s Action Plan for Waste and Recycling 1993-97. Notice that the figures for 1996 in relation to sludge for recovery on farmland and incineration are based on 1995-figures. The average dry weight percentage for sludge to recovery on farmland is 12.6%. The figures include only sludge and not sand and screenings from sewage treatment plants.

The amount of sludge has been stated at 1,175,000 tonnes of wet weight. It can be seen that the amount of sludge for landfilling has increased by 12,000 tonnes from 1995 to 1996. The increase must be assessed as very limited when considering that in the past year there have been several statements to the effect that farmers would receive sludge from municipal waste water treatment plants to a much smaller extent than earlier.

In "Waste Statistics 1995", Environmental Review from the Danish Environmental Protection Agency No. 5, 1997, the quantity of wet sludge for 1994 and 1995 amounts to some 300,000 tonnes less than the statement in figure 19. This is due to the fact that the dry matter quantity which was used to calculate wet weight subsequently has proved to be too high. Instead of a dry matter rate of 16.4%, a dry matter rate of 12.6% has been used for the new figures, leading to a larger amount of wet sludge. The reason for the modification of the dry matter rate is that information to the Environmental Protection Agency for 1995 is much more detailed, as the information on sludge is based on reporting forms from some 1,500 municipal waste water treatment plants, whereas the reports from 1994 were based on some 500 plants and the rest was calculated theoretically.

Residual products from waste incineration plants are not included in the tables of waste production and modes of treatment shown hitherto, since this would mean that the waste would be counted twice.

Fig. 20 shows the quantity of residual products (slag, fly ash, flue gas cleaning products), and the treatment to which these residual products have been subjected. The figures for 1994, 1995 and 1996 are an expression of the treatment given to residual products transported from waste incineration plants and should not be confused with the quantity produced.

Source: ISAG-reports 1994, 1995 and 1996 and The Government’s Action Plan for Waste and Recycling 1993-97.

The quantities transported from the waste incineration plants for 1994, 1995 and 1996 are specified in more detail in Table 16. The increased amount of waste incinerated will be reflected in increasing transported quantities from waste incineration plants. The 120,000 tonnes increase from 1994 to 1995 in residual products transported from the waste incineration plants does not reflect a corresponding increase in the quantity of waste incinerated. On the other hand, the increase is primarily an expression of the fact that incineration plants often dispose of residual products in large batches, depending on their market potential.

Source: Calculations based on ISAG reports 1994, 1995 and 1996 and registrations according to EU´s regulation of shipments of waste.