Circular Economy in Denmark: Bornholm’s Vision to Achieve 100 Percent Reuse and Recycling

Bornholm is a Danish island of approximately 40,000 inhabitants in the Baltic Sea, which has adopted a vision to be waste-free by 2032, by which time the island’s waste incineration plant will be decommissioned. Because of this vision, waste management strategies are to completely transition from landfilling and waste incineration as treatment options. Instead, 100 percent of waste is to be recycled, reused (including preparation for reuse), and prevented in accordance with national objectives and European framework conditions provided in legislation and policies such as the Circular Economy Action Plan. If this were to succeed, it would represent the first successful transition of its kind by an industrialized community. Currently, approximately 75,000 metric tons of waste on Bornholm is treated annually, of which 7% is landfilled, 28% is incinerated, and 65% is sent for recycling.

This chapter details the waste management situation on Bornholm in terms of infrastructure and waste flows, while also showing the different innovative projects and initiatives that are planned and underway to achieve the waste-free 2032 vision and reaching more circularity. A particular emphasis in the chapter is on the higher-order steps in the waste hierarchy, i.e. waste prevention through environmental awareness raising, preparation for reuse and reuse.

The case of Bornholm shows that through a focus on unlocking green minds and an innovative partnership and experimentation approach, it is possible to waste prevention and strengthen preparation for reuse and thus, the inner circles in a circular economy are complied with. This may be affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic which has had global effects on waste streams including Denmark, but in the longer timeframe the actions involved with achieving the waste-free 2032 vision is expected to be resilient to outside conditions. By fostering good working relationships with civil society through projects and challenging norms about the municipal leeway to operate in, e.g. waste planning, Bornholm can lead the way for others.