Denmark boasts some of the world’s most ambitious climate goals, largely based on its advanced system for mostly-renewable electricity generation and well-established waste management measures. Despite that, its 5.9 million inhabitants use more of the planet’s resources than most, and should focus on smarter resource use and waste reduction. This was reported in the first Circularity Gap Report for Denmark, published in 2023 by Circle Economy Foundation.
- In 2024, Denmark’s Earth Overshoot Day fell on March 16th. Earth Overshoot Day is the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources exceeds what Earth can regenerate. Only 5 other countries in the world consume more than Denmark.
- Denmark has only a 4% circular economy, leaving a circularity gap of 96%. This means that Danish circularity is about half of the world average (7.2%). The reason? Danes can simply afford it: they collectively consume 142.2 million tons of virgin materials each year, with a per capita material consumption three times higher than the estimated “sustainable gap.”
- Danish material consumption is mostly dominated by non-metallic construction materials and biomass used to feed livestock and the population. Fossil fuels only account for 12% of the material footprint.
- Denmark’s carbon footprint, on the other hand, is less extreme: 11.1 tons per capita – just above the EU average of 9.5 tons per capita. 54% of the country’s emissions are from imported materials. In fact, due to the scarcity of local natural resources, about 72% of the total extraction needed to meet demand takes place abroad.
The report concludes with five proposed strategies across different areas to bring Danish circularity up to 7.6% – almost doubling the current metric. This improvement would bring a 39% reduction in the material footprint and a 42% cut to the carbon footprint.
