While “waste-to-energy” might conjure up images of a smokestack, this landfill-free process of incinerating non-recyclable rubbish to create electricity, heat or fuel is quickly gaining ground in Europe as a cost-effective way to cut emissions.
Copenhagen’s Amager Bakke combined heat and power waste-to-energy plant makes the case better than any statistics could. Known locally as Copenhill, it is owned and operated by the Amager Resource Center and delivers low-carbon electricity to roughly 550,000 people and district heating to some 140,000 households.
Copenhill cuts an estimated 100,000 tonnes of CO2 a year against the fossil-fuelled power it displaces and recovers 90% of metals it collects as waste for reuse. It also has a public ski slope and climbing wall built onto its roof. This industrial site that’s been turned into a park that people actually go to on weekends has perhaps done more to shift public opinion on waste-to-energy than any campaign ever could.