Eco-innovation in Denmark EIO Country Profile 2014-2015 Eco-Innovation Observatory The Eco-Innovation Observatory functions as a platform for the structured collection and analysis of an extensive range of eco-innovation information, gathered from across the European Union and key economic regions around the globe, providing a much-needed integrated information source on eco-innovation for companies and innovation service providers, as well as providing a solid decision-making basis for policy development. The Observatory approaches eco-innovation as a persuasive phenomenon present in all economic sectors and therefore relevant for all types of innovation, defining eco-innovation as: “Eco-innovation is any innovation that reduces the use of natural resources and decreases the release of harmful substances across the whole life-cycle”. To find out more, visit www.eco-innovation.eu and ec.europa.eu/environment/ecoap Any views or opinions expressed in this report are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Commission. Eco-Innovation Observatory Country Profile 2014-2015: Denmark Author: Henry Varga Coordinator of the work package: Technopolis Group Belgium Acknowledgments The document has been prepared with the kind support of: Mr Niels Henrik Mortensen Rasmussen (Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark, Environmental Protection Agency), Mr Tobias Caspersen Panduro (Ministry of Business and Growth of Denmark), Mrs. Hanne Juel (Region Midtjylland), Ms. Maria Mølgaard Berg (Danish Regions),Ms. Pia Rønnov Jensen (Danish Regions), Mr. Christian Selmer Fredsø Jensen (Region Midtjylland), Ms. Signe Kromann-Rasmussen (Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark, Environmental Protection Agency), Ms. Signe Sonne-Holm (The Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark, The Danish Environmental Protection Agency) and Mr. Ole Olsen (Statistics Denmark). A note to Readers Any views or opinions expressed in this report are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Union. A number of companies are presented as illustrative examples of eco-innovation in this report. The EIO does not endorse these companies and is not an exhaustive source of information on innovation at the company level. This brief is available for downloaded from https://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecoap/denmark Table of contents Summary ......................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 2 1 | Eco-innovation performance .................................................................................... 3 2 | Selected circular economy and eco-innovation areas and new trends ...................... 8 3 | Barriers and drivers to circular economy and eco-innovation in Denmark .............. 14 4 | Policy landscape: towards circular economy in Denmark ........................................ 19 Annex: Policy measures addressing circular economy and eco-innovations in Denmark ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….32 Summary Denmark takes the top position on the EU28 Eco-Innovation Scoreboard for 2015: it is ranked before Finland and Ireland on second and third position respectively. This an improvement in ranking compared to previous years which already showed good performance with a second position in 2014 and fourth position in 2013 and never ranked lower than fourth since 2010. In terms of eco- innovation output, compared to 2013 Denmark slides down the ranking from first place to fourth in the Scoreboard, while on the other hand Denmark moves up from a fourth place to the first spot in terms of eco-innovation input, which is also Denmark’s best performing indices. The worst performing score is eco-innovation activities, where it drops from a second place to 24th (note: data for two out of three indicators are not available). As in the previous report, the country does not manage to translate the high eco-innovation output into a higher socio-economic output, where it is below EU average. Denmark has been promoting eco-innovation since 2006, when a unanimous Danish Parliament requested the Danish Government to launch the first eco-innovation scheme, underpinned by a comprehensive policy framework in support of activities and initiatives in favour of the environment and combating climate change. After the Danish Local Government Reform that was implemented in 2007 and created five completely new regions in Denmark, green growth initiatives got off due to the synergy effects that the reform offered. Industrial symbiosis and public procurement are two areas that seem particularly to have benefitted from this. However, the new Danish Government (June 2015) has taken a more market oriented approach to green transition with the view that enterprises will implement green business models without the need of comprehensive state support, hence some drastic cuts have been proposed and taken place that will affect circular economy developments. In view of this, the latest Scoreboard results are a result of the work of previous governments and it needs to be seen how the latest policy developments will affect Denmark’s result in the future. 1 Introduction The market for eco-innovation products is becoming increasingly competitive, involving a number of challenges for Denmark, most recently from China. The country is experiencing a decrease in overall competitiveness, due to increasing salaries, which has damaged productivity and it is becoming harder to attract well-educated labour and researchers, Denmark is a modern economy with high dependence on foreign trade. With few natural resources, the mixed economy of Denmark relies almost entirely on human resources, where the service sector makes up the vast amount of the employment and economy. The service sector accounts, by far, for the highest number of persons employed in Denmark and contributor to GDP. Despite highest governmental spending on education in Europe, it does not translate into high productivity and the green business sector is lacking the right skills and capabilities. Hence there is a need to better coordinate higher education and research with industry and business for two reasons: 1) to better match choice of education with the needs of the market; and 2) increase commercialisation of research and innovation. Another issue is the availability of mature (green) technology and processes to kick-off the full potential of circular economy, as well as the access and distribution of information: businesses can be unaware of potentially profitable new opportunities in circular economy. Information is also important in changing consumer’s behaviour towards waste. Despite improvements in cleaner air and the state of Danish lakes and streams, it is still does not meet the objectives for water bodies, biodiversity is under pressure, the condition for a great part of Danish lakes and streams still needs to be improved and resource consumption is among the highest in the world. Much of the pressure on nature and bio-diversity are related to the intense level of farming combined with that agricultural land covers more than 60% of Denmark’s area. Despite a trend in decreasing nitrogen load the use of pesticides exceeds the national targets and residues of pesticides and excess nitrate still cause a problem in some parts of the ground water. Denmark has seen a reduction of nitrogen discharge into inner Danish waters by approximately 50% since 1990, but many areas still suffer from oxygen deficit. Contamination with pollutants in blue mussels has decreased but the concentration of mercury is still above standards. Nature and biodiversity has been negatively affected by the impact of nutrients, and there is mixed development where biodiversity continues to decline in many areas, while there are positive developments in biodiversity in aquatic environments. As in many countries using a degree of fossil fuel in transport and energy, fine particles pose a challenges to improve the air quality in the overall positive trend, especially in the capital Copenhagen. Denmark ranks on 13th place in the Environmental Performance Index, above the European average (European Environment Agency (EEA) , 2015) Despite progress in material consumption per capita (declining since 2006), Denmark’s global ecological footprint remains one of the largest in the world. Denmark has developed an efficient infrastructure for harnessing energy from waste and has very low deposit of garbage; however, this also poses a challenge in ensuring the next steps up the ladder of the waste hierarchy to increase upcycling and resource efficiency and ensure the maintenance of the value of materials. Denmark has one of the highest material flows in Europe, and the material productivity would be rated lower, if it was not due to a high production of renewable energy and efficient recycling systems. An increased overall consumption in goods and energy has undermined the gains in efficiency, and it will take more than an improved performance in energy efficiency to reach the targets. Denmark has made rapid progress in the share of renewable energy in the gross final energy consumption with 29.2% in 2015 (Eurostat, 2016), and has set the world record in wind energy consumption, in the total energy consumption but still relies on fossil fuel for energy, especially in the transport