Denmark and the Circular Economy

Denmark and the Circular Economy
Denmark has started its journey towards the circular economy.

One of the first steps was a project initiated and performed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, around creating a tool kit for policy makers, which was to describe a methodology for circular economy policymaking. The project looks at the circular economy opportunity from a country and policymaker perspective, and aims to provide policymakers with an actionable toolkit to help accelerate the transition towards the circular economy. Part of the project was to perform a case study on Denmark which identified circular economy opportunities, barriers and policy options in the country. The results showed that introducing the circular economic principles to the Danish economy would:

• Increase GDP by 0.8 – 1.4 %
• Reduce consumption of selected resources by up to 50 %
• Reduce Danish carbon footprint by 3-7 %
• Create 7 000 – 13 000 jobs by 2035
The results were based on the following five sectors, which covers 25 % of the economy:
• Food and beverage
• Construction and real estate
• Machinery
• Plastic packaging
• Hospitals

Sources
Potential for Denmark as a circular economy – report

Potential for Denmark as a circular economy – infographics

Delivering the circular economy – a toolkit for policy makers


Circular Economy in reality
In Denmark, more and more companies are becoming aware of the significant growth opportunities in the circular economy. Danish companies are developing pioneering circular economy solutions that benefits the environment, climate and economy. Some companies are increasing resource efficiency and reducing their environmental footprint by reducing the use of minerals and raw materials, ensuring responsible sourcing of their raw materials and/or shifting consumption to renewable resources. Other companies are designing their products in such a way that the lifetime of the products is extended and materials or components can be reused and recycled at a high value in the economy. In 2015, Denmark was awarded the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders award ‘The Circulars’ for being a global front-runner in exploiting the potential for a circular economy.

You can read more about the Danish circular solutions in this White Paper, which has been published by State of Green.

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