2.3.   State of the environment and environmental problems

Danish watercourses are slowly starting to become cleaner thanks to major efforts to improve sewage treatment at the municipal level. In certain cases the fish stock is reestablishing. While the targets - among others that 21,000 km of watercourse should be suitable for salmonid fish - are far from being reached, the trend is positive.

Danish lakes suffer from the same problem as lakes in other parts of the industrialized world, i.e. that much too much phosphorus is led into them. Even though the main sources have now been reduced due to improved treatment of urban sewage, there is still considerable phosphorus stored in the lake sediment, and it will therefore take decades before the lakes become as clear as they were prior to modern development started around 1960. In fact, there is some doubt as to whether it will ever be possible. Sources such as leaching from cultivated areas and sparsely built-up areas also play a role.

With regard to eutrophication of marine waters, there has as yet been no improvement to speak of. While it is true that discharges from municipal sewage treatment plants and industrial outfalls have been reduced, the decisive factor is nitrate leaching from agriculture. As yet the latter has not been reduced to any significant extent.

In the case of beaches, however, where the standard of hygiene is of decisive importance, there has been significant improvement in water quality. For the sake of tourism, the majority of Municipalities place great emphasis on solving bathing water quality problems. In 1993, 96% of 1,300 beaches were up to standard by EC criteria.

2.3.2. Groundwater and soil:

In principle, groundwater formation in Denmark is sufficient to meet the needs of consumers, industry, agriculture and the watercourses. However, the population is unevenly distributed and Copenhagen, which abstracts water from most of Zealand, pumps up so much water that the water table has in some places sunk by as much as 15 m relative to the natural level. In typical areas the water table has sunk 0.5 m over the last 50 years in Zealand, while it has increased 0.5 m in Jutland as a result of increased precipitation during the second half of this century22. As a consequence of the sinking of the water table in Zealand, watercourse flow is very modest there in the summer.

In Denmark, great importance is attached to being able to base the water supply on groundwater. Thus 98-100% of the water from which potable water is derived is groundwater and only very simple treatment is undertaken.

However, the water that is available is threatened in various ways. Pollutants buried or spilt on the soil are seeping down to the groundwater from contaminated sites located in and around Denmark’s old industrial towns. Pesticides also seep down to the groundwater to a considerable extent, but the magnitude of the problem is as yet unclear. This problem has come strongly into focus during the last two years.

In parts of the country where the soil layers afford little protection to the aquifers - especially certain parts of Jutland - nitrate leaching from agricultural land is contaminating the groundwater.

With regard to the soil, the problem that attracts most attention in Denmark is that of contaminated sites. Next in line is interest for what is spread on cultivated land. For example, farmers want to be sure that the spreading of sewage sludge on cultivated land does not lead to problems with heavy metals, etc. The maximum cadmium content of commercial fertilizers is regulated so as to ensure that Danish cultivated land does not become too contaminated with that heavy metal.

2.3.3. Air:

The air in Danish towns and cities is relatively clean compared with that in other large towns. The levels of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulates and lead are all under or very much under EC limit values23. However, as is the case with other developed countries, per capita CO2 emissions are high in Denmark, namely 11 tonnes per year. The expected consequences of the greenhouse effect are hardly likely to have any particularly serious immediate effects on Denmark. A minor part of the country will be flooded but an increase in temperature and precipitation will increase agricultural production. However, Danes consider the greenhouse problem to be a threat to global stability.

Danish emissions of ozone depleting substances have more than halved, from 7,000 tonnes in 1986 to under 2,000 tonnes in 199325. All relevant substances, including halons, will have been phased out by 1999.

SO2 and NOx pollution has only affected a few Danish lakes since the limestone content of the soil is rather high.

However, over 1/3 of Danish conifers, which account for 2/3 of the forested area, are affected by needle loss of more than 25%26. How great a role air pollution plays in relation to other stress factors such as mild winters and the effect of salt blowing in from the sea has not yet been determined. Wind conditions are such that Denmark receives considerable quantities of SO2 from England and Germany, and in return deposits Danish SO2 on countries such as Sweden.

2.3.4. Waste:

Approximately 9.6 million tonnes waste are produced in Denmark each year, of which 80% stems from commercial sources (industry, building and construction, power stations, sewage treatment plants) and 20% from households. Although data concerning the amount of waste is somewhat inadequate, it seems to have been relatively constant from 1985 to 1993. However, resistance among the population to new landfills has been strong, and those who live near proposed landfill sites employ every means to prevent or delay them.

Waste production in Denmark
The waste strategy in Denmark is actually quite simple. The ideal would be that enterprises employed cleaner technology so that no waste is even produced, or that the amount is reduced. Not much has yet been achieved on this front, however. The next highest priority is given to recycling, and some successes have been achieved in the 1990s. Recycling has increased from approx. 30% in 1985 to approx. 48% in 1993; the increase is particularly great for household waste and building and construction waste27. Incineration is considered as the third best alternative, and in this area Denmark has made considerable progress. About 90% of household waste is incinerated or recycled by composting, and the figure is expected to rise to 100% within a few years. Incineration is considered to be optimally organized when combined with the production of both electricity and heat (combined district heating and power plants), but otherwise all incineration is currently combined with the supply of heat to housing (district heating plants). The forth best solution is deposition at controlled landfills. It is expected that the deposition of incinerable waste will be prohibited within a few years. Waste from abroad awakens strong emotions in Denmark - it is feared that Denmark will become a dumping ground for our much larger neighbour, Germany. The EC proximity principle to some extent protects Denmark from that fate. At the same time, however, Denmark sends waste abroad itself, either for processing or storage.

2.3.5. Noise:

In Denmark and the other Nordic countries the working limit for acceptable traffic noise is 55 dB(A), this level having been chosen because studies show that 85-90% of the population are not bothered by noise levels up to that limit. Of the 2.4 million homes in Denmark, approx. 600,000 (1/4) are exposed to noise levels greater than 55 dB(A), and of these 162,000 are considered to be significantly noise-plagued (over 65 dB(A)). In addition, an unknown but significantly smaller number of persons are exposed to noise from enterprises.

Number of noise-plagued homes
The problem of noise has been subject to changing political priority. In the long term, however, the number of persons exposed to unacceptable noise levels will fall because the roadway authorities (the State, the Counties and the Municipalities) and the Danish State Railways are investing in roadway relocation, noise deflection and sound proofing.

2.3.6. Safety problems:

Insecurity concerning genetic engineering resulted in the passing of the Environment and Genetic Engineering Act as early as in 1986. There are approx. 40 manufacturing processes in operation that employ genetically modified organisms (GMO), and 15 genetically modified plants are being cultivated experimentally in the open (1994). As yet there have not been any accidents of significance.

The EC Seveso Directive (82/501) led Denmark to undertake an examination of all enterprises potentially posing a risk, of which there are now approx. 20. In most cases the risk - in simple terms - was less than 1 death per 1,000,000 years of operation. However, in a few cases the risk was 1 death per 10,000 years of operation. There have not been any serious accidents in Denmark and the issue has not therefore attracted much public attention. Nevertheless, Danish experience is that the commencement of new potentially hazardous manufacturing processes leads to considerable resistance among neighbours.