International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

52.2.4.10 Country-specific Characteristics: Denmark
The Danish Environmental Protection Act Consolidated Act No. 753 of 25 August
2001 contains provisions on the regulation of waste. 920 The Act states that the local
(municipal) council shall be in charge of waste management.
The following polices are in place in Denmark:
747
� A tax on waste, implemented 1987. The waste tax is differentiated so that it is
most expensive to landfill waste, cheaper to incinerate it, and tax exempt to
recycle it. No tax is levied on hazardous waste, contaminated soil or waste that
is covered under the Statutory Order on biomass waste; and
� A ban on the landfilling of waste suitable for incineration - implemented 1997.
Each local council is responsible for establishing capacity for waste management and
for providing information on how to dispose of the waste produced within the local
council, irrespective of whether this waste originates at households or trade and
industry.
The incineration of municipal waste has a long history in Denmark; the first waste
incinerator being built in 1903. 921 In 1993 it was decided that waste should be
preferred to other sources of energy when producing heat as a by-product of electric
generation, and in 2005, waste incineration, producing heat and electricity, supplied
4% of the total energy consumption in Denmark. The energy-to-waste facilities are
subject to a cost coverage principle, which means that they show neither a profit nor
a loss. 922
Waste in Denmark is subject to ‘flow control’ and is managed by not for profit
companies that deal with the incineration of waste and operation of district heating
systems. There are approximately 40 inter-municipal waste management companies
in Denmark. The companies operate so that any profit gained from selling waste heat
is used to off-set the costs of operating the plant. The remaining income is generated
from gate fees charged by the plants. Gate fees are amongst the lowest in Europe,
despite the existence of incineration taxes.
The extensive district heating systems that are in place in the country already
purchase heat on the open market, however, there are price ceilings placed on the
sale of heat from EfW plants so as to protect the heat consumers, and to ensure the
heat is generally the lowest regional price so as to encourage its use.
Denmark has a general tax on waste that is split into three tiers and primarily has the
aim of encouraging recycling. The lowest tier is for recycling and set at a zero charge.
An incineration tax has been introduced to discourage its use in preference to
920 EIONET: European Topic Centre on Resource and Waste Management (2007) Hungary Waste
Factsheet, Accessed 16 th October 2008,
http://waste.eionet.europa.eu/facts/factsheets_waste/Hungary
921 European Environment Agency (2007) The road from landfilling to recycling: common destination,
different routes, http://reports.eea.europa.eu/brochure_2007_4
922 RenoSam (2006) The Danish Model, News from DBDH
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes