| Forside | | Indhold | | Forrige | | Næste |

Affaldsstatistik 2007 og 2008

Summary and Conclusion

Objectives for waste treatment

This waste statistics contains data up to and including 2008. In 2003 the government set out a number of objectives to be met in 2008 for waste treatment for a number of waste types. The objectives are stated in Waste strategy 2005-08.

In this summary, the focus is on the objectives for 2008. In the other chapters in the Statistics focus is on the new objectives for 2012 which have been set out in the government's Waste Strategy 2009-12 from March 2009. The objective for landfilling is 6 percent in 2012, while all other objectives have been transferred from the Waste Strategy 2005-2008.

In the Waste Strategy 2005-2008, the government set out objectives for the treatment of waste in 2008. The overall objectives for 2008 are that minimum 65 percent of the waste must be recycled, maximum 9 percent must be landfilled and the remaining 26 percent must be incinerated. Moreover, objectives have been determined for treatment of the waste from the different professional sources such as private households, industry, etc. - cf. the table below.

The table shows the waste treatment, computed in percentage from the different professional sources, compared to the objectives for 2008. The objectives for recycling and landfilling are fixed which means that the stated percentage for recycling is a minimum percentage and for landfilling a maximum percentage while the objectives for incineration are indicative.

The total production of waste in Denmark in 2008 amounted to 15.6 million tonnes – of which 23 percent was incinerated, 7 percent was landfilled, while 69 percent was recycled. This means that the overall objectives in the government's Waste Strategy 2005-2008 for treatment of waste in 2008 have been met. The amount of waste which is landfilled still has to be reduced in order to meet the 6 percent objective before 2012.

As regards the treatment of waste from the different professional sources, the objectives for building and construction and for waste products from waste incineration plants or residual products from waste incineration plants have been met. On the other hand, the objectives have not yet been met for the private households, the industry, and the service sector plus for the treatment of waste products from the coal-fired power plants. Based on the available date from 2002, the objectives for treatment of sludge from the municipal plants have been met.

A small reduction in the actual amounts which are recycled can be attributed to a reduction in recycling of waste products from the coal-fired power plants. This reduction is expected to be based on bad marked conditions and thus temporary.

In 2008 7 percent of the waste has been landfilled. To this figure must be added an amount of waste from plant sources plus hazardous waste exempt from taxes, primary soil and stone not included in the 7 percent. This amount is occupying capacity in the landfills in Denmark. In March 2010 the Danish Environmental Protection Agency published a report^[4] on the total significance for the capacity in the landfills in which these amounts are included.

Waste amounts

Through a long period of years the waste amounts in Denmark have been increasing, but for the last couple of years there has been a tendency for stagnation. Also within the area of building and construction, there has been stagnation in the amounts of waste in the last couple of years. The total production of waste in Denmark amounted to 15.6 million tonnes in 2008.

Total production of waste 1994-2008

The last 14 years the total amounts of waste has been increased with 4.5 million tonnes which corresponds to an increase of 40 percent. This development is mainly because of the fact that amount of waste from:

• building and construction has increased with 3.6 million tonnes (147 percent)
• service (institutions, trade and office) has increased with 1.6 million tonnes (239 percent)
• the private households has increased with 1.1 million tonnes (42 percent)
• the power plants has been reduced with 768,000 tonnes (39 percent)

The private households

In 2008 the total amount of waste from the households was 3.7 million tonnes which corresponds to an increase of 11 percent compared to 2006. Waste from private households amounts to 23 percent of the waste production in 2008.

In the last five years, the amount of waste from the private households has increased with 500,000 tonnes or 15 percent. From 2006 to 2008 there was increase of 356,000 tonnes, an increase which solely is because of an improved report on iron and metal from one firm. As mentioned above, the total amount of waste from the private households was 3.7 million tonnes in 2008. This means that every Dane produced 667 kg waste in 2008. 304 kg came from domestic waste, 130 kg from garden waste and 98 kg from bulky waste. Per household this means that every household produced 1,434 kg in 2008.

Overall, the objectives for recycling have been met as regards the private households whereas this cannot be said for the objectives regarding landfilling. Below, the partial aims for domestic waste, bulky waste and garden waste will be examined.

Waste from private households primarily consists of domestic waste (46 percent), garden waste (15 percent) and bulky waste (20 percent).

In 2008 1.7 million tonnes of domestic waste was produced in Denmark. Of this, 15 percent was recycled, 84 percent was incinerated and 1 percent was landfilled. This means that the objective for incineration of domestic waste has been met whereas the amount of domestic waste for recycling must be increased.

One of the initiatives which should contribute to ensuring a larger amount of domestic waste to be recycled is the demand that the municipalities must sort out packaging waste from the private households for recycling from August 2006

In 2008 the Danish private households produced 713,000 tonnes of bulky waste. This is 28,000 tonnes less than in 2006. This means that there has been a 4 percent reduction.

The amount of bulky waste has risen with 18 percent from 1994 to 2008. The rise in amounts is partly because of an actual rise in amounts and partly because of an increased use of collection schemes of bulky waste in the municipalities.

In 2008 53 percent of the bulky waste was incinerated, 15 percent landfilled and 19 percent recycled. The remaining 12 percent has temporarily been stored. That concerns waste suitable for incineration which is stored until it can be incinerated. This means that the amount of waste for incineration is actually 65 percent instead of 53 percent.

As regards the objective of a 25 percent maximum of waste for incineration, this has been met, on the other hand, a 25 percent minimum of waste for recycling has not been met. In order to meet the objective for recycling, more of the bulky waste must be sorted out and collected separately. A number of initiatives regarding cardboard and electrical and electronic products have already been set in motion or are on the merge of being set in motion.

In 2008 the amount of garden waste collected from the private households was 536,00 tonnes which corresponds to a reduction of 62,000 tonnes or 10 percent compared to 2006. In 2007 the amount was significantly higher than in both 2008 and 2006. In 2007, the amount was 649,000 tonnes.

In 2008 98 percent of the garden waste was recycled and 1 percent went to landfill. This means that the objective of a 95 percent minimum of recycling of garden waste has been met.

Institutions, trade and offices

In 2008 institutions, trade and offices produced 14 percent of the total amounts of waste or 2.2 millions tonnes waste which is 278,000 tonnes or 14 percent more than in 2006. 47 percent was recycled, 45 percent incinerated and 7 percent landfilled.

In 2008 the objective for recycling of waste from institutions, trade and offices was 50 percent. This objective has not been met. However, it should be emphasised that there has been a steady rise in the amount of recycled waste. In 2008 7 percent of the waste from institutions, trade and offices was landfilled, the aim for 2008 is 5 percent. This aim has not been met either, but the amount of waste for landfilling has been reduced by 50 percent from 2000 to 2008 (from 14 percent to 7 percent).

In order to meet the objective in 2012, the sorting of waste must be improved so that a larger part of the recyclable materials can be recycled.

Industry

In 2008 the industry produced 1.7 million tonnes which is a reduction of 274,000 tonnes or 14 percent compared to 2006. In 2008 60 percent of the waste from the industry was recycled, 16 percent was incinerated and 23 percent landfilled. Waste from the industry make up 11 percent of the total amounts of waste.

The 2008 objective of a 15 percent landfilling of the waste from the industry at the highest has not been met. Nor has the objective of a minimum 65 percent recycling been met.

In order to meet the objectives in the Waste Strategy 2009-2012, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency has identified some types of waste from the industry to which an extra effort is needed. Among other things this includes shredder waste which must be moved from landfilling if it is rational from an environmental perspective and an economic perspective.

Building and construction

Waste from building and construction accounts for 6 million tonnes or 39 percent of the total amounts of waste in Denmark. From 2006 to 2008 the production of waste from building and construction has not really changed whereas there was a 6 percent reduction of the amount in 2007 compared to 2006. 95 percent of the waste from building and construction is recycled.

The objectives for building and construction in the Waste Strategy 2005-2008 for Building and Construction have been met.

Residues from coal-fired power plants

In 2008 the amount of residual products from the coal-fired power plants was 1.2 million tonnes corresponding to a 9 percent reduction compared to 2006. 87 percent of the residual products were recycled and 13 percent was landfilled. The amounts of waste from coal-fired power plants make up 8 percent of the total amount of waste.

The objectives for treatment of residual products from coal-fired power plants have been met for a number of years, but in 2008 a large amount, which is expected to be recycled in suitable construction projects, was stored. Because of the storage, the objective for incineration has not been met in 2008.

From 2006 to 2008 there was a reduction in the amount of residual products from coal-fired power plants of 122,000 tonnes or 9 percent.

Wastewater treatment plants

Estimated on the basis of 2002 data, 813,000 tonnes of sludge was produced in 2008. The amounts of waste from wastewater treatment plants make up 5 percent of the total amounts of waste.

The treatment of sludge from the municipal wastewater treatment plants is based on data from 2002. 56 percent is recycled, 43 percent is incinerated and 1 percent is landfilled.

Based on the existing data from 2002, the objectives for treatment of sludge from the municipal wastewater treatment plants have been met.

Hazardous waste

Waste, which contains a certain amount of substances that must be classified as hazardous to health and or environmentally dangerous according to the waste legislation, must be considered hazardous waste. In 2008 536,000 tonnes of hazardous waste was registered and this corresponds to a 10 percent rise from 2006 to 2008.

Fly ash and other flue gas cleaning products from manufacturing industries and from incineration plants make up 30 percent of the total amount of hazardous waste. Fly ash which cannot be classified as hazardous waste and which meets the qualification criteria in the Statutory Order on residual products can be recycled.

The rise is primarily because of an increase in the amount of shredder waste which in 2008 made up 23 percent of the hazardous waste.

In round figures 29 percent of the hazardous waste was recycled, 18 percent was incinerated, 49 percent was landfilled and 4 percent underwent special treatment.

Import and export of waste

Import and export of waste is regulated by the EU Regulation on shipments of waste. Waste which according to the Regulation must be categorised as so-called green-listed waste for recycling can be freely imported and exported. However, the municipality in which the imported waste is recycled or from which it is exported, must be informed about the amounts and types of waste imported or exported. All other types of waste may only be imported or exported after notification and the subsequent authorisation from the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. Wastes which are subject to the procedure of prior written notification and consent are categorised as notification obligated or ‘amber’ listed waste.

In 2008 the amount of imported waste corresponded to 2 percent of the Danish production of waste. More than half of the imported waste is categorised according to the EU Regulation on shipments of waste as green-listed waste for recovery. The green-listed waste mainly consists of glass, paper and cardboard, plastic and iron and metal.

In 2008 the amount of exported waste corresponded to 10 percent of the total production of waste in Denmark. The largest part of the waste which was exported from Denmark in 2008 falls under the category green-listed waste for recovery. This consists of the fractions glass, paper and cardboard, plastic and iron and metal plus fly ash and slag from coal-fired power plants.

[4] Miljøprojekt, 1318, 2010, Deponeringskapacitet i Danmark – i perioderne 2009.12 og 2013-20.

| Forside | | Indhold | | Forrige | | Næste | | Top |

Version 1.0 Juli 2010, © Miljøstyrelsen.