Prudent development - a shared responsibility
7 Resources and resource efficiency
It is necessary to utilise the resources of nature. They are used as production and consumption input. Resources form the basis of increased welfare. Sustainable development implies that increased welfare takes account of the Earth's ecosystems and the amount of renewable and non-renewable natural resources.
A long-term aim is to increase resource efficiency significantly during the course of one generation. First of all, we must limit the use of natural resources that are particularly scarce or vulnerable or particularly harmful to the environment when exploited. In the long term, we must limit resource consumption to 25 per cent of the present level. In the even longer term, additional increases in resource efficiency may be called for. This should be seen in the light of international discussions of factor 4 and factor 10 as a resource efficiency goal. There is a need for further specification of initiatives concerning the use of resources in the future.
The use of natural resources affects the environment. We must view resource consumption and environmental impact in an international perspective, keeping in mind national and international resource consumption as well as its environmental impact. It is imperative to give high priority to natural resources and to use them prudently. Consumption must increasingly be based on renewable resources and recyclable materials. But renewable resources must be used at a pace that allows for regeneration. The use of non-renewable resources must take into account total volumes and possibilities of replacing the resources with other materials.
Natural resources are utilised for many activities in society. Energy is used in industry and households, for transport and heating. Raw materials are used to manufacture products. Soil is a natural resource on which houses and roads are built and crops and forests grown. Water is also a resource used for people and animals as drinking water, production input or as habitat for fish, animals, plants, etc. The sea also represents a great food resource.
Denmark has already made much progress through targeted initiatives. For example, total Danish energy consumption remained fairly constant during the 1990's despite economic growth.
Many companies have introduced environmental management, cleaner technology and work with cleaner products, thus reducing total resource consumption and environmental impact. Because of measures taken in the chemicals field, more substances harmful to the environment will be removed from waste in the future. Finally, water consumption has dropped considerably over the last decade. But more drastic steps are needed to ensure sustainable use of natural resources.
In Denmark, land is a scarce resource to be used with care. Intensification of agriculture and consideration for the environment and recreational interests have increased competition for land. The most acute needs must therefore be given priority. And raw materials must be extracted in a careful manner to allow subsequent use of the area for other purposes.
Major Danish company reduces waste anounts despite increase in activities The company is an international market leader. Environmental management includes mapping and sorting of waste and scrap metal to achieve the greatest possible degree of recycling and reuse. 80 per cent of the company's waste is scrap metal and 20 per cent is other waste. The amount of scrap metal has been cut by reducing production waste to under 1 per cent through "operator self-control" and by utilising steel rolls 10 per cent better in a new advanced machine. The scrap metal is sorted and sold for recycling purposes outside the company. Other waste includes one third of chemical waste. This share has been reduced considerably, mainly because the company has reduced the number of chemicals used from 1,365 to just under 600 different chemicals. The amounts of chemical waste dropped by 37 per cent from 1997 to 1999, resulting in waste disposal savings of DKK 340,000 per year. These results were achieved thanks mainly to strong management support and through staff involvement in the environmental work in autonomous production groups. All the company's production units around the world are ISO 14001 certified, and the
European companies are also EMAS registered. |
Resource consumption in the construction sector is vital to society's total resource
consumption and environmental impact. Construction and operation of buildings account for
half of Denmark's energy consumption, while consumption of construction materials
constitutes the major part of raw materials consumption in Denmark. Construction generates
large amounts of waste, but the greater part is recycled. In 1999, the recycling share
amounted to 90 per cent.
Total waste amounts in Denmark have risen over the past decade, but developments indicate a stabilisation towards the end of the period mainly due to a reduction of waste from energy production. However, waste amounts from a number of sectors continue to grow, and measures must be taken to reduce them. We must all contribute to minimising waste generation and to increasing recycling, but we must prioritise individual material flows. Not all materials are equally popular ingredients in waste and, first of all, measures must be targeted at materials containing substances that have the most serious environmental impact.
Unavoidable waste must be recycled to the greatest possible extent to retain resources in the cycle. Denmark has a long tradition of recycling a large part of all waste. In 1999, recycling amounted to 64 per cent of total waste amounts. But we must do even better. New treatment technologies will be needed to ensure the efficient utilisation of resources and the elimination of problems of environmental impact. However, when we decide on the form of treatment, we must balance environmental, energy and resource conditions against economic conditions.
Objectives and activities 2001-2006
Resource consumption must be reduced. Today, Danish environmental policy aims primarily at promoting a balanced use of resources. In the future, measures must focus on finding data and developing methods to assess the overall resource consumption and environmental impact of products and materials, including hidden material flows. In concrete terms this is a question of finding the best combination of instruments, including exploring the possibility of increased taxation on packaging. If we do not succeed in considerably reducing resource consumption, we may have to introduce taxes on raw materials and other materials. Product prices should fully reflect the resource consumption and environmental impact of products.
Product-oriented environmental initiatives are important. Companies are therefore encouraged to develop and market more clean and environmentfriendly products and consumers to choose them to a greater extent. We must focus on cleaner products to replace products with greater resource consumption or greater environmental impact. New technology will undoubtedly play an increasingly important role in the development of cleaner products.
It should also be easy and attractive for consumers to choose green products. Consumers must have sufficient and relevant information on the impact of products and goods on the environment. But individual citizens must also commit themselves to environment friendly consumer patterns and lifestyles. Instruments may include eco-labels and energy labels and environmental declarations of contents.
All players must cooperate to prevent waste. In 2001 the Government will present a strategy to reduce waste generation. Production, marketing and consumption of environment-friendly and less resource intensive products and services are key priorities of this strategy.
By recycling waste we save virgin resources. The objective of the Government's waste plan,Waste 21, is to recycle 64 per cent of waste amounts by 2004 and to reduce disposable waste amounts to 12 per cent. The plan focuses on quality in waste treatment by utilising waste resources and limiting problems of environmentally harmful substances.
In Denmark, sustainable use of raw materials must be achieved by developing new technologies, increased coordination of the extraction of raw materials, and increased knowledge concerning total remaining raw material reserves. Recycling and use of substitution materials for nonrenewable raw materials remain key priorities.
Oil and gas production must take maximum account of health, the environment, and flora and fauna. This should be achieved in collaboration with North Sea countries through targeted management of substances discharged to the sea. This applies not only to local discharge to the marine environment, but also to transboundary pollution through the air or via the food chain. In its effort to substitute scarce oil and gas resources, the Government aims at developing renewable energy resources, etc.
Increased competition for the scarce Danish land resources makes heavy demands on planning. Various considerations must be combined to minimise conflicts between different uses of the same piece of land. Outside urban areas, diversified land use must be promoted.