Danish exports of environmental products and consulting services within the waste sector in 1999
Appendix 1. Questionnaire study
Defining the waste sector
Environmental issues are often presented under headlines such as air pollution, water contamination and waste. Sometimes, issues like noise, nature protection and soil contamination are also included. All these issues are commonly believed to relate to specific sectors.
However, in the case of the waste sector, things are quite the opposite. In its publications, the Danish EPA refers to waste treatment companies, that is, a sector defined on the basis of the raw materials processed. This is contrary to statistics describing society, as they define sectors and trades on the basis of the goods manufactured.
Definition depends strongly on this
aspect, as 64 per cent of all waste produced in 1997 was recycled, 24 per cent
incinerated, 12 per cent deposited, while 1 per cent underwent special treatment according
to the Danish EPA. In general statistics that describe society, it makes no difference
whether a company produces steel on the basis of waste metal or iron ore, uses waste paper
for paper pulp manufacturing or residue products from power stations as filler material in
its concrete production. What matters is the finished product sold by the company.
It is important to recognise that waste is any substance, material or product that a manufacturer regards as unwanted; that is, something that the manufacturer considers to have poor value and therefore wants to dispose of. But it may represent valuable raw or filler material to another manufacturer.
The core of the waste sector
The core of the waste sector consists of companies that handle or treat waste for the purpose of producing useful finished goods or reducing the effects that are harmful to nature. According to DB93 (Dansk Branchekode 1993 - an industrial classification of all economic activities in Denmark issued by Statistics Denmark), these companies chiefly operate in few specific sectors:
37.1000/37.2000 Recycling of metal/non-metal waste and scrap: This subsector is part of the manufacturing sector. Companies in this sector process new or used products for the purpose of changing them into raw materials. Products are characterised by the basic material being either sorted or unsorted goods unsuitable for direct application in any industrial process. Finished goods are treated for further processing and can thus be considered semi-manufactures. Mechanical or chemical processing is required for a product to be included in this sector classification. The notes to DB93 list a number of exemptions such as treatment of waste products from food, beverages and tobacco, yarn spinning on the basis of napped textiles, paper pulp production on the basis of waste paper, retreading, production of material from metal waste products as well as ship and car breaking.
51.5700 Wholesale trade in waste and scrap: This subsector is part of the wholesale trade sector. It includes collection, sorting, packing, trade and the like without any industrial processing. The notes specify that car breaking is comprised by this sector classification.
90.0020 Collection and disposal of refuse: This subsector is part of the private or public service sector. It includes collection and transport of waste, emptying publicly placed containers, rental of waste containers to households, road/street sweeping and flushing, snow and ice clearing, salting and gritting and the like.
90.0030 Refuse dumps and refuse disposal plants: This sector includes disposal of waste through incineration, depositing or other disposal such as crushing, dumping, burial or ploughing, treatment and destruction of toxic waste, including soil decontamination (one example is Kommunekemi).
Secondary waste treatment
However, waste treatment increasingly occurs outside these sectors. This applies especially to the recycled part of all waste (64 per cent).
Manufacturing as well as building and construction companies treat waste during their day-to-day production simply because it is financially profitable or because it is a statutory requirement. Specific waste fractions such as iron and metal, paper and cardboard, food waste, concrete, asphalt, soil and rock are being recycled. Furthermore, 24 per cent of all waste incinerated or used for generating electricity and district heat, is classified as energy products (the energy sector).
Suppliers of core waste treatment products and services
Some of the equipment supplied to foreign waste treatment companies includes general components used for the construction and building of plants. The following specialised articles are used directly by the waste sector:
| Balers Compactors Waste shredders Composters Windrow turners Special sorting plants Waste racks On-site soil cleaning plants Waste oil tanks |
Refuse sacks/bins Food waste disposal units Collection trucks Special lifts/hoists Lifting and draining systems Shredding plants Sludge treatment plants Plants for incinerating hazardous waste Mobile equipment for crushing |
Special containers for bottles concrete, asphalt and rock and paper, for example.
Questionnaire study
Questionnaire forms were sent to companies (on Confederation of Danish Industries (CDI) and Danish Council of Consultancy Architects and Engineers (DCCAE) business paper), while Analyseinstituttet VIBY made the statistical evaluation.
On the basis of previous experience in similar studies, the number of respondents was reduced to a small number of companies selected by the CDI, DCCAE, DAKOFA and consultant Ejvind Mortensen, who is well versed in this sector.
As shown in the following table, the effective sample consisted of 51 companies. In addition to receiving a written reminder, all companies that did not respond were reminded by telephone and sent another copy of the questionnarie, if needed. Companies that did not respond after the second reminder were registered as non-respondents. The response rate was 82 per cent. The response rate of product exporters was extremely high at 94 per cent, while that of exporters of consulting services was 61 per cent. Yet, all major companies providing consulting services responded, meaning that the response rate in this area had little impact on the results of the questionnaire study in practical terms.
Number of companies in the sample and final results
