Waste Statistics 2005
2 Recycling
- 2.1 Recycling by fraction
- 2.2 Paper and cardboard
- 2.3 Plastic
- 2.4 Bottles and glass
- 2.5 Ferrous metal
- 2.6 Organic waste for composting, wood chipping and biogasification
- 2.7 Tyres
2.1 Recycling by fraction
Table 4 shows the amounts separated from the different waste fractions for the purpose of recycling in the form of either reprocessing, composting or biogasification. The Table does not show the total amount of waste generated by the individual fraction.
Source: the ISAG and (1) Recycling industries and other large scrap dealers. (2) Elsam and Energi E2. (3) Reports to the Danish EPA on sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants applied to farmland etc. Data has been delayed a year so that 2002 figures are used for 2003, 2004 and 2005, and 2001 figures are used for 2002 (see also 5.6). Sludge for long-term storage has been included in the amount for recycling. (4) To avoid double reporting, figures have been corrected for ferrous metal removed from waste incineration plants.
The Table shows that in 2005 9,494,000 tonnes of waste were recycled. This is 9 per cent, or 756,000 tonnes, more than in 2004. The increase is primarily due to more recycling of soil and stone, while there has also been an increase in the amount of concrete and ferrous metal recycled. Fly ash and slag from coal-fired power plants fell by 68,000 tonnes, while other construction/demolition waste has gone down by 83,000 tonnes. Otherwise, there are no large fluctuations evident for the individual fractions.
2.2 Paper and cardboard
Consumption of virgin paper and the rate of collection of waste paper in the period from 1994 to 2004 are shown in Table 5.
The total amount of waste paper collected in 2005 amounted to 677,000 tonnes. This constitutes a reduction of 14,000 tonnes or 2 per cent relative to the amounts collected in 2004.
Source: (1) Statistics on recycling of packaging waste 2004. Danish EPA, Environmental Project No. 1129, 2006. (2) The ISAG reports.
Table 6 shows collected paper by source and by packaging waste and remaining waste types. Not surprisingly, the largest amounts of waste paper are collected from households, the service sector and industry. The largest amounts of packaging waste are collected from the service sector.
Source: ISAG reports 1994-2005. Note that double reporting in 1998 apparently explains why the total amount is about 20,000 tonnes too high.
Packaging waste is a new waste type in the ISAG and it does not yet reflect the total amount of cardboard packaging waste collected for recycling in Denmark. In 2004, 292,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard packaging waste were collected for recycling[10].
As is apparent from the table, the amount of paper collected for recycling has gone up by about 86,646 tonnes from 2004 to 2005. This increase primarily covers increasing amounts of packaging waste from the service sector (up 39,922 tonnes) and increasing amounts of other paper from industry (up 32,520 tonnes). The table also shows that the amount of recycled paper from households in the period 1994 - 2005 has increased by about 107,000 tonnes.
The amount of paper collected from the service sector has gone up by around 17,735 tonnes, or 6 per cent, amounting to 326,814 tonnes in 2005. The amount of paper collected from industry has increased by around 38,668 tonnes corresponding to 27 per cent compared to 2004.
In the ISAG, waste delivered to a recycling centre/transfer station is reported with the commercial source "recycling centre/transfer station". This means that it is not stated whether the waste originated from households or from other primary commercial sources. From 2001, recycling centres/transfer stations must indicate a split between waste types and primary source. Since this is not yet routine, the ISAG Secretariat has divided the waste as shown in Annex 2.
2.3 Plastic
Table 7 shows the amount of plastic collected for recycling, reported to the ISAG. In 2005 this amount was 63,058 tonnes, which is an increase of around 9,061 tonnes from 2004. However, it is assumed that some plastic has been collected and exported directly for recycling abroad without having been registered at a Danish treatment plant. It is therefore probable that the amount of waste plastic collected in Denmark is more than 63,058 tonnes.
Source: ISAG reports 1994-2005.
The fraction plastic covers both production waste, plastic packaging waste, and other plastic waste, with individual figures shown in Table 7.
Packaging waste is a new waste type in the ISAG and it does not yet reflect the total amount of waste plastic packaging collected for recycling and reprocessing in Denmark. Therefore, in the following description of plastic recycling, ISAG figures have been supplemented with information from statistics on waste packaging.[11]
The statistics show that in 2004, 28,439 tonnes of waste plastic packaging were collected and recycled in Denmark. Of this amount, 17,131 tonnes were exported for recycling abroad.
The total amount collected corresponds to 16.3 per cent of the total Danish consumption of plastic packaging. This constitutes a drop from 2004, when 17.4 per cent of waste plastic packaging was collected for recycling. Waste plastic of the type polyethylene (PE) accounted for 70 per cent of collected amounts.
2.4 Bottles and glass
According to the ISAG reports, 165,094 tonnes of bottles and glass were collected for recycling in Denmark in 2005. This is 24,622 tonnes more than in 2004.
As seen in Table 8, the amount of glass collected for recycling went up by 55,566 tonnes, or 51 per cent, during the period 1994 to 2005. However, the figures fluctuate somewhat throughout the period. At the same time it is seen that the amount of glass packaging collected from households has dropped in the period 2002 to 2004.
Source: ISAG reports 1994-2005.
It is evident from Table 8 that by far the major part of the glass collected is packaging waste: thus, packaging waste accounted for 69 per cent of the total amount of glass in 2005.
However, the ISAG does not provide a complete picture of the overall material flow. This is especially significant with regard to recycling of bottles and glass, which is a process comprising several collection, reuse and treatment steps before glass becomes waste.
Therefore, in the following description of overall glass recycling, ISAG information is supplemented with information from statistics for packaging waste[12], cf. Figure 6.
Source: Statistics for recycling of packaging waste 2004. Environmental Project No. 1129, 2006.
Apart from minor fluctuations, consumption of glass packaging increased throughout the period.
Correspondingly, the amount of glass packaging collected and recycled has increased. The amount of glass collected was 132,000 tonnes in 2004. This is around 6,000 tonnes less than in 2003. Amounts of recycled glass also dropped, namely from 137,000 tonnes in 2003 to 131,000 tonnes in 2004.
This means that in 2004 the collection rate as a percentage of total consumption reached 70 per cent, which is an increase of 2 percentage points compared to 2003. In 2003, the recycling rate as a percentage of total consumption reached 68 per cent.
Bottles for beer and soft drinks manufactured for reuse are not included in this statement. Refillable glass bottles, on average, make 30 trips. If these bottles were manufactured as single-use bottles, it would give an increase in waste glass of around 310,000 tonnes.
2.5 Ferrous metal
Table 9 shows the overall amount of ferrous scrap collected, analysed between consignees. It is seen that 475,000 tonnes of ferrous metal were recycled in 2005, which is a decrease of 159,000 tonnes, or 25 per cent, from 2004.
Source: (1) ISAG reports, (2) information from the Association of Danish Recycling Industries and other large scrap dealers. Note that calculations in Table 9 differ from those in Table 4. Amongst other things, the figures have not been corrected for amounts of ferrous metal removed from waste incineration plants. 2003 to 2005 saw a substantial drop in imports of ferrous scrap by foundries and the Danish Steel Works. This is because the Danish Steel Works was closed down and therefore no longer contributes to the ISAG.
Table 9 shows a drop from 2002 to 2005 of 93,000 tonnes, or 80 per cent, in the amount of ferrous scrap imported by foundries and the former Danish Steel Works. The Association of Danish Recycling Industries has reported that ferrous scrap not sent to the Danish Steel Works has been exported.
However, the Association of Danish Recycling Industries normally estimates a recycling rate for ferrous scrap in excess of 90 per cent.
According to reports to the Danish EPA, the Danish Steel Works and other Danish foundries imported 23,000 tonnes of ferrous scrap in 2005, whereas scrap dealers imported around 54,000 tonnes. In other words, total imports in 2005 amounted to 77,000 tonnes, which is 5,000 tonnes, or 6 per cent, less than in 2004.
Scrap dealers exported 494,000 tonnes of ferrous scrap in 2005, which means that net exports in 2005 were 440,000 tonnes. This is a fall of 11 per cent from 2004.
2.6 Organic waste for composting, wood chipping and biogasification
The amount of organic waste led to reprocessing in the form of composting, wood chipping, biogasification, or fodder is shown in Table 10.
Organic waste led to reprocessing in 2005 amounted to 1,257,000 tonnes. This is 28,000 tonnes more than in 2004. The increase is due in particular to the fact that the amount of branches, leaves etc. has increased by 55,000 tonnes.
Source: the ISAG does not contain information on whether organic materials are reprocessed via composting, wood chipping or biogasification. Figures are based on assessments and calculations of data from the ISAG reports. See Annex 3 for a specification of waste types and plants included in the different categories .According to calculations in Statistics on treatment of organic waste from households 2001, Environmental Project No. 856, 2003, organic domestic waste led to composting and biogasification amounts to 37,000 tonnes.
The amount of bark/wood chips and compost removed from treatment plants does not reflect the total amount generated at the plants. Rather, this amount indicates the quantity sold or delivered free from the plants.
As is seen from the table, the amount of sold/removed bark/wood chips came to around 1,000 tonnes more than in 2004 while the amount of sold/removed compost was 22,000 tonnes more than in 2004.
2.7 Tyres
In 1995, the Minister for Environment and Energy entered an agreement with a number of organisations, on a take-back scheme for used tyres from cars, vans, and motorcycles.
The purpose of the agreement is to ensure collection and recycling of used tyres in Denmark. In this way, landfilling is avoided and appropriate resource recovery ensured which prioritises recycling over energy recovery.
The scheme commenced on 1 April 1995 and is financed by a fee on all tyres covered by the agreement and marketed in Denmark.
According to the agreement, the target is a take-back rate of at least 80 per cent.
From 1 April 2000 the scheme was extended to cover tyres from all types of motor vehicles. This accounts for the leap in data between 1998 and 2000 in Table 11.
The table shows that the collection rate for waste tyres surpassed 100 per cent in 2002. According to reports from the Danish Tyre Trade Environmental Foundation, this is presumably due to the fact that waste tyres have been imported from Germany, as well as to the fact that some waste tyres have been collected and stored for several years.
Source: reports from the Danish Tyre Trade Environmental Foundation in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.
[10] Reporting of packaging waste to the EU.
[11] Statistics for recycling of packaging waste 2004. Environmental Project No. 1129, 2006.
[12] Statistics for recycling of packaging waste 2004. Environmental Project No. 1129, 2006.
Version 1.0 September 2007, © Danish Environmental Protection Agency