Key decision makers from local authorities and representatives from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), and the Scottish Government saw at first hand an array of integrated waste management facilities operating in Denmark during a study tour last week.

The group, consisting of 20 people and including the Convener of South Ayrshire Council’s Commercial and Business Services Committee, spent three days gaining an insight into how the Danish recover energy from waste and use this energy to provide both electricity and district heating.

Denmark, with a population similar to Scotland, produces around 13 million tonnes of waste, including household, industrial, commercial and construction, per year and recycles 65%, recovers energy from 26 % by combined heat and power (CHP) incineration and landfills just 9%.

With the need to move away from landfill disposal to reduce the climate change impacts of the methane produced by land filling waste, SEPA and the Scottish Government have been actively seeking to promote awareness of more sustainable methods of waste management in Scotland. This includes composting, bio-gas and energy from waste amenities and complements ongoing work throughout Scotland on recycling and waste minimisation.

On his return Councillor Kerr said:  “This was an excellent study tour of 'state of the art' integrated waste management facilities in Denmark. With Councils in Scotland being set challenging recycling and composting targets by the Scottish Government, along with the requirement to divert waste away from landfill, this study tour provided the ideal opportunity to view the range of waste treatment and recycling facilities needed to achieve these goals.

“Denmark has been at the forefront of sustainable waste management for a long number of years now.  It was of great value to view at first hand how they treat waste as a resource rather than something to be simply disposed of in a landfill site. To see how the Danes recover heat and power from their energy from waste plants, together with a network of district heating stations was of particular interest. These are exactly the kind of facilities that Councils in Scotland will need to consider providing over the next few years in order to comply with strict European legislation on diversion of waste from landfill. 

“South Ayrshire Council has more than doubled its recycling and composting rate over the past two years, with the introduction of kerbside collections for household waste and we are now one of the leading recycling Councils in Scotland. However, we still have a lot more work to do to meet future recycling and landfill diversion targets. Only by introducing the type of sustainable waste management treatment facilities that we viewed in Denmark, can we achieve these very challenging targets in future years.''

Councillor Kerr examining the high grade compost produced from municipal waste along with Danish Waste Management officials.

May 2005