EFFICIENT USE OF
RESOURCES AND
SUSTAINABLE
CONSUMPTION
The Capital Region
saves energy and
produces less waste
The Capital Region and the 29 municipalities in the
Region are working proactively with a wide range
of activities in the areas of energy efficiency, waste
management and environmentally friendly solutions.
That’s the way it is because public authorities in
Denmark are tackling many tasks that could impact
the climate and the environment. At the same time, the
public sector plays a vital, leading role.
The Capital Region is keen to avoid impact on the climate
and the environment when the Region performs its tasks
in relation to hospitals, for example. The Region is also
aware of the need to promote sustainable development
via its procurements.
The work of developing new methods of saving energy,
limiting pollution and producing less waste is proceeding
in conjunction with municipalities, companies, research
scientists and the general public.
The expectation is that being at the cutting edge is a
sound investment. The fact is that those who understand
how to utilise the resources most efficiently hold the key
to significant financial savings. Those societies and com­
panies that are able to offer good, effective environmental
solutions will take part in the green growth of the future.
THE CHALLENGES
In common with many other regions, the Capital Region
is experiencing negative consequences of consumption
and prosperity. There will be higher carbon emissions and
more pollution unless new energy-aware and environ­
mentally aware solutions are adopted.
10
EFFICIENT USE OF RESOURCES AND SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION
The hospital has
made friends
with the sea
THE SOLUTIONS
The Capital Region is dealing with these challenges as
follows:
By MARIANNE BOM
Photo CLAUS BJØRN LARSEN
monitoring how well the Region is doing in terms
of green thinking in operating its hospitals, buying
products and developing new construction. This
is done by preparing annual green accounts as
adopted in the Region’s “Strategy and action plan for
sustainable development”.
Waste water from a hospital is a toxic cocktail. Nevertheless, the
majority of hospitals around the world empty their waste water
directly into the sewage system, with the result that a number of
environmentally harmful, pathogenic substances enter the cycle
of nature. But things do not need to be this way. Herlev Hospital
has acquired a state-of-the-art purification plant and is now able
to dispose of its water with a clear conscience.
•
putting a stronger focus on waste as a resource
that can be reused and recycled. According to the
“Strategy and action plan for sustainable develop­
ment”, waste is not regarded as mere rubbish.
•
using climate-friendly procurement as a strategic tool
to promote new, green solutions that create value for
public-sector and private-sector players alike.
•
involving companies and the general public in climate
efforts through encouragement and nudging. The
Region is doing so by putting the spotlight on the
carbon footprint of local authorities, organisations and
members of the public in the Capital Region. “Carbon
footprint” refers to overall consumption of heat,
transport, goods and services and the combined
carbon emissions associated with the production,
transportation and disposal of goods.
•
Øresund is located in a picturesque
blue belt between Denmark and
Sweden – a delightful bathing spot.
People can freely jump in, because
although the Sound is surrounded by
urban development, both countries
undertake purification of their waste
water. But the question is: are they
purifying it thoroughly enough?
There are limits to the capabilities
of ordinary purification plants. The
plants cannot catch the last dregs of
medicinal products and pathogenic
organisms discharged from hospitals.
These substances end up in the sea,
where they can affect flora and fauna.
So it is good news indeed that in
2014 a major hospital in the Capital
Region, Herlev Hospital, has adopted
a new, improved purification plant,
according to Jens Peder Jeppesen,
a marine biologist. He is in charge of
the Øresund Aquarium in Helsingør,
which conducts research into and
disseminates knowledge of flora and
fauna in the Sound.
“It’s vital for the sake of the
environment that we apply all the
available water purification methods
to prevent pollution of the sea. From
a hospital, for example, there will be
cytotoxins intended to destroy
cancer cells, and, combined with other
substances – such as agri­cultural
pesticides – they can affect marine
organisms, making them ill and
rendering them too feeble to repro­
duce,” he comments.
Fortunately, he explains, Øresund
currently has a thriving ecosystem
with more fish and a larger variety of
species than the surrounding seas.
“We need to conserve this. After
all, why shouldn’t our descendants
get to enjoy a clean sea? We humans
need to think about the long term,
because the only way we are going
to survive the next few thousand
years is if we adopt sustainable
behaviour and limit the discharge of
toxins into the sea.”
DOING AWAY WITH THE TOXIC
COCKTAIL
The same sustainable thinking was
behind the ambitious target set a few
years ago by research scientists at
the CRT organisation DHI together
with a band of companies spear­
headed by the heavyweight Grundfos
Group. They set out to develop a
purification plant capable of remo­
ving all unwelcome substances from
hospital waste water so that the
11
EFFICIENT USE OF RESOURCES AND SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION
WHO?
Herlev Hospital, the Capital
Region of Denmark, Grundfos Bio
Booster A/S, the CRT organisation
DHI, Ultraaqua A/S, Neutralox
Umwelttechnik GmbH, the Danish
Nature Agency, BIOFOS A/S the
waste water company, and The
Market Development Fund.
HOW?
• By developing the new
purification plant as a public–
private innovation project.
• By collaborating with research
scientists and companies that
had the courage to risk finding
that the technology might not
have been up to the job.
• By taking all the hospital’s
waste water and running it
through a number of high-tech
purification methods so that,
at the end of the process, the
water is pure enough for the
authorities to permit it to be
discharged into the ecosystem
without violating the restrictive
applicable regulations.
HOW MUCH?
DKK 43 million including develop­
ment costs, with The Market
Development Fund having
contributed DKK 6 million of this.
The other costs are covered by
the project participants together
with Herlev and the City of Copen­
hagen.
resultant water can be harmlessly
discharged into the ecosystem.
In 2012, when they were looking
for a test-bed for their system, the
Capital Region and Herlev Hospital
jumped at the chance.
“We felt the initial attempts
looked promising, and the project
was so exciting that we wanted to
get involved. We are well aware that
the foul water from a hospital is a
toxic cocktail of approximately 1,000
medicinal products, and we were
keen to protect the environment
from that,” according to Jess Krarup,
project manager at Herlev Hospital.
“But we actually had no guarantee
that it would work. That’s the way it is
when you join forces to innovate and
develop new technology,” he com­
ments. The project was organised as
a public–private innovation project.
THE HOSPITAL MAY END UP
SAVING MONEY
The hospital chose to go ’all in’ and
agree that the new plant should not
only be a minor pilot project as first
planned. This was to be a full-scale
project to purify all 150,000 m3 of
foul water generated each year from
approximately 600 beds. In fact,
the plant was designed to handle
180,000 m3, because the hospital
Tank for biological processes to
removes organic substances,
phosphorus and nitrogen
Fans produce oxygen
for the biological
cleaning processes
Drying and compression of
sludge, i.e. waste from the
biological treatment
Post-processing lines using
active carbon and ozone.
This is where the medicinal
products are broken down
Chemicals for cleaning
of membranes
Big-bag filling station for
dried sludge, taken away
for incineration
Nothing must go to waste in the future Copenhagen. That is the
City of Copenhagen’s vision for 2050. Thus, leftover food will
become fuel in the form of biogas. New construction will utilise
materials that can be re-used, and when you have finished using
a product, it will be passed on to others who are in greater need
of it. Based on this vision, the City of Copenhagen has come up
with a plan through to 2018. By then, 20% less rubbish will be
incinerated than in the year 2013, and at least 45% of domestic
waste will be recycled.
The Avedøre waste water treatment plant, which
has so far treated sewage from Herlev Hospital.
EFFICIENT USE OF RESOURCES AND SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION
Pre-treatment. Grilles remove particles
from the foul water
Air-purification unit eliminates odours
and pathogens from the air with UV
irradiation and active carbon
THE REGION AND MUNICIPALITIES SHOW THE WAY AHEAD
COPENHAGEN – TO BE A ZERO-WASTE CITY
THE RESULT?
• Waste water is turned into
clean water – cleaner than from
a conventional treatment plant.
• No more pouring medicinal
products, toxins and antibioticsresistant bacteria into the sea.
• The authorities in Denmark and
abroad see the evidence of the
“Best Available Technology”,
and are able to tighten up the
requirements with regard to
other hospital waste water
treatment.
• Possible exports of leading
environmental technologies.
12
THE PURIFICATION PLANT
AT HERLEV HOSPITAL
The plant uses biological processes
and then remove medicines and
pathogenic organisms via membrane
technology, active carbon and ozone
treatment. Waste from the plant is
incinerated.
will be expanding in the years ahead.
Right now in 2014, the purifica­
tion plant is ready in a new building
with glass walls so that all interested
parties can look in and see the hightech gadget. It started being used in
May, and initially, quite some time will
be spent on running in and testing:
Will the purified water be clean enough
for the authorities one day to allow it to
be poured directly into the local river?
“If we get that far, it means the
hospital will be able to save DKK 4–5
million per year on sewage duty, which
means the plant will have been a
really good investment that pays for
itself in a few years,” Jess Krarup says.
It is not exactly easy to get to
that stage in a country with strict
authorities, because operation must
first be seen to be stable for a long
time. But Jess Krarup is delighted
that it has now been proved that
effective technology exists to
prevent medicinal products being
discharged into the sea.
“It means the authorities in
Denmark and everywhere else can
impose more stringent requirements
for how hospitals handle foul water,
and that will be good for the environ­
ment. Even if the clean water just
ends up in the sewer, as has been
the case here up until now.”
CONTAMINATED SOIL MADE USEFUL
The Capital Region has a responsibility to detect, investigate
and cleanse contaminated soil. The Region spends approximately
DKK 140 million a year on this, and they would like to see this
money going further. With this in mind – and with a view to
developing new environmental technologies for the whole world
– the Region is collaborating with researchers and companies
to develop new decontamination methods. The methods are
tested on a heavily contaminated plot in Skovlunde near Copen­
hagen, which is open to visitors by appointment. A pumping
system prevents the contamination from spreading.
RECYCLING IS “IN” IN COPENHAGEN
Photo BIOFOS A/S
WHAT?
Herlev is the first hospital in
northern Europe to adopt a new,
complete purification plant that
removes medicinal products and
pathogenic organisms from the
hospital’s waste water and safely
disposes of the sludge.
Many Copenhageners are in favour of recycling, and at the
moment demand for used books, furniture and toys outstrips
supply at the City’s recycling centres. The City of Copenhagen
is planning to do something about that. The City intends to
reduce the volume of waste by 6,000 tonnes by the year 2018,
in part by increasing access to recycling at three new local
“swap-stations”. By 2016, the City will have constructed a new
recycling centre capable of receiving 12,000 tonnes of waste
per year, and 10% of this will be reused directly.
EAT OUT WITH A GREEN CONSCIENCE IN
COPENHAGEN AND FREDERIKSBERG
Restaurants consume energy and produce waste, and there is a
heavy concentration of restaurants in the big city. Accordingly, as
far as the City’s climate accounts are concerned, restaurants are
high on the agenda when it comes to reducing energy consump­
tion. Similarly, it is noticeable that they are reducing the amount
of food waste. In the City of Copenhagen and the City of Frede­
riksberg, restaurants can sign up to a green network to learn how
to make changes in the way they operate. This is in their own
interests, too, because it allows them to optimise their finances.
THE REGION DECONTAMINATES SOIL
USING ELECTRICITY AND BACTERIA
Removing contamination from the soil is expensive. For this
reason, the Capital Region is working together with companies
and researchers to develop new methods. One promising
method is to run a low electrical voltage through contaminated
boulder clay, add “bacteria food” (reactants) and bacteria to eat
the contamination. This method uses up to 25% less energy
than the existing methods and removes 99% of the contamina­
tion. Through to 2016, interested parties will be able to see the
technology in use in a pond near Frederikssund.
SMART PLANT SORTS PLASTIC WASTE
In Copenhagen, 40,000 tonnes of plastic are thrown out each
year, destined for incineration. This is a pity, because if just 15,000
tonnes could be recycled, that would save the environ­ment
approximately 37,500 tonnes of carbon emissions, according
to calculations, but this would require the plastic to be sorted
for recycling. Accordingly, the City of Copenhagen is seeking to
establish an ambitious new sorting plant which will use optimised
technology to prepare at least 70 percent of plastic for recycling.
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EFFICIENT USE OF RESOURCES AND SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION