Closing the circularity gap
Driven by rising material extraction and a dominant linear economy, the planet’s environmental limits are being pushed year on year. Today, more than 90% of materials are either wasted, lost or remain unavailable for reuse for years as they are locked into long-lasting stock such as buildings and machinery.
This tendency is no stranger to Denmark, a country otherwise known as an ambitious player in the global race to net zero. While Denmark has a deposit system with 100% economic circularity, an expected climate-positive water sector by 2030, and the ambition to have a climate-neutral waste sector by 2030, Denmark’s material consumption is more than three times higher than the estimated ‘sustainable’ level of consumption.
That, amongst other reasons to urgently embed circular solutions, took the headline in Tuesday’s launch of the Circularity Gap Report Denmark. The report found that the Danish economy is only 4% circular. A number considerably lower than the circularity metric for the global economy, measured at 7.2% in 2023.
While delivering a sobering status for the Danes and the global state of circularity in general, the report also lays the path for a more circular society. Delivering five suggested pathways to boost circularity, the recommendations revolve around lifestyle, mobility, food systems, manufacturing and built environment with a projected potential of reducing Denmark’s material footprint by 39%. Initiatives might further decrease carbon footprint by 42%.
In a similar vein, the Danish Climate Partnerships for Waste, Water and Circular Economy delivered in 2020 a range of recommendations on how to find a systemic approach to economic development designed to benefit businesses and society in line with the national target of reducing emissions by 70% by 2030. Several of these have since been translated into actual policy as part of the Danish Government's Action Plan for Circular Economy 2020-2032.
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