📋 Tender Overview
Start Date: 01/01/2022
End Date: 31/12/2029
Total Eligible Budget: 16,816,909 €
EU Contribution: 10,000,000 €
Project Location: Denmark
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Danish consumption and production have led to one of the world’s highest carbon footprints (19 tonnes per capita). A waste generation averaging 816 kg per capita is also one of the highest in Europe (EU average 492 kg per capita). Better integration of circular approaches in waste prevention and waste management are ways of meeting these challenges. However, the waste management sector is highly fragmented, as the Danish Environmental Protection Agency is the competent authority at national level while implementation lies with the municipalities through 98 local waste management plans. This also affects the value of the waste fractions: waste sorting is currently defined locally, reducing the potential for creating homogenous fractions of high quality and volume, which is necessary to establish effective commercial markets for secondary raw materials. In Denmark, less than 60% of the collected, sorted, and registered waste is recycled. Furthermore, the Danish waste-to-energy system has led to a ‘trap of incineration overcapacity’ and an increased dependency on imported waste. Waste incineration plays an important part in district heating (20%) and electricity production (5%), and large sums have been invested in incineration plants, hampering waste prevention, reuse and recycling. Waste prevention has primarily been the responsibility of central government, and municipal prevention initiatives are varied and reflect different local priorities. Municipalities have expressed concern that waste prevention is difficult and that capacity building and cross-sectoral cooperation is needed. The Action Plan for Circular Economy (APCE) and mainstreaming circular economy approaches offers a way forward, but implementation requires a holistic approach and the participation of a broad range of stakeholders. Coordinating beneficiary, the Central Denmark Region (CDR), along with the Capital Region of Denmark (CR) are well placed to facilitate the process, as the regional governance level in Denmark supports coordination between municipalities and helps bridge the gap between national and municipal authorities.
OBJECTIVES
The LIFE-IP CE Beyond Waste project aims at the full implementation of the Danish Action Plan for Circular Economy (APCE) in a way that reinforces and accelerates the shift to a circular economy, to keep resources at the highest possible level of the waste hierarchy for as long as possible.
The three main objectives of the project are:
Waste prevention: To prevent waste generation and reduce consumption of primary resources by introducing and integrating circular approaches in the actions and behaviour of public authorities, private enterprises as well as among citizens;
Circular waste management: To turn waste into resources by implementing circular eco
