A shared future - balanced development
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 used. The UN Secretary General has pointed to changes in production and consumption patterns as a significant challenge towards sustainable development. In this connection, he indicated decoupling and more efficient use of resources by a factor of 4 and 10 as goals. As part of the Danish Government’s efforts to achieve sustainable development and sustainable production and consumption patterns, a long-term target has been set to limit resource consumption to about 25 per cent of the current level. 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. It is important that resource consumption and environmental impacts are seen in an international perspective. It is important to take account of both national and international resource consumption, as well as the associated environmental impacts. 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.
In areas where use of resources presents special problems for people and the environment there must be determined efforts to change the technological basis for production and consumption in order to reduce significantly society’s dependency on these resources.
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 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 1990s 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 compounds harmful to the environment will be removed from waste in the future. Finally, water consumption has dropped considerably over the last decade. However, more drastic steps are needed to ensure sustainable use of natural resources.
Despite increased activity, a Danish company has reduced waste amounts. The company is an international market leader.The company’s environmental management includes mapping and sorting waste and scrap 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 has been reduced; partly by reducing production waste to under 1 per cent through "operator self-control", and partly 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, one-third of which is chemical waste, has been significantly reduced.This has been achieved primarily through reducing the number of chemicals used from 1,365 to just under 600 different chemicals. The amount 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. |
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 begiven priority. Raw
materials must be extracted in a careful manner to allow subsequent use of the area for
other purposes.
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, 90 per cent of waste was recycled.
Over a ten-year period the total amount of waste in Denmark has increased. After a stabilisation in 1996-99, mainly due to a reduction in waste from energy production, total waste amounts in Denmark have risen again in 2000.Waste amounts from a number of sectors have risen continuously. We must all contribute to minimising waste generation and to increasing recycling, but we must prioritise individual material flows. Not all materials are equally attractive ingredients in waste and, first of all, measures must be targeted at materials that cause the most serious environmental impact or the largest resource consumption.
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 2000, recycling amounted to 65 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 environmentally harmful compounds. However, when we decideon the form of treatment, we must balance environmental, energy and resource considerations against economic considerations.
Objectives and activities in the future
Resource consumption must be reduced. Today, Danish environmental policyaims primarily at promoting a balanced use of resources. In the future, measures will, for example, focus on finding data and developing methods toassess the overall resource consumption and environmental impact of products and materials, including hidden material streams. Specifically, it is a question of finding thebest combination of measures.The Government will investigate whether the goals of more resource efficiency and waste minimisation are best achieved using targeted market-based measures.Investigations will include whether revision of the existing economic measures, including taxes on raw materials, etc. could be appropriate. Product prices should fully reflect the resource consumption and environmental impact of products. Taxes on resources should be agreed at international level, for example through joint minimum rates for environmental taxes in the EU.
Product-oriented environmental initiatives are important. Companies are herefore encouraged to develop and market more clean and environmentally friendly products.We must focus on cleaner products to replace products with high resource consumption or high 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.
All stakeholders must enter into binding cooperation on preventing waste. In 2003 the Government will present a strategy aimed at preventing this loss of resources and the environmental pressure associated with waste. Production, marketing and consumption of environmentally friendly and less resource- intensive products and services are priorities in this strategy.
By recycling waste we save virgin resources.The objective of the waste plan, Waste 21, is to recycle 64 per cent of waste amounts by 2004 and to reduce landfilled waste amounts to 12 per cent.The plan focuses on quality in waste treatment by utilising waste resources and limiting problems of environmentally harmful compounds.
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 non-renewable raw materials remain priorities.
Oil and gas production must take maximum account of health, the environment as well as flora and fauna.This should be achieved in collaborationwith the North Sea countries through targeted management of compounds discharged into the sea. This applies not only to local discharges into 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 sources, etc.
Increased competition for the scarce Danish land resources makes heavy demands on planning.Variousconsiderations must be combined to minimise conflicts between different uses of the same piece of land. Outside urban areas, diversified land use must be promoted.