Welcome to Bornholm: The Danish Island With a Goal of Zero Waste by 2032

Denmark has an incineration problem.

In what was once considered a green solution, the Nordic country burns up to 3.8 millions tons of waste per year. That burned waste is then converted into enough energy to account for roughly a fifth of its district heating and 5% of its electricity. But Denmark wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 70% compared to 1990 numbers, and it can’t do that with the ever-increasing CO2 emissions from its incineration plants.

Enter Bornholm, a small island of approx 45,000 in the Baltic Sea that’s also known as the “Sunny Island.” Though it's a popular tourist destination, it’s also plagued by persistent financial issues. Many of the islanders once relied on fishing for their livelihoods, but fish populations collapsed decades ago, all but wiping out the industry. Even today, Bornholmers make approx 20% less on average than other Danish residents.

Jen Hjul-Nielson, a career civil servant who came to Bornholm to run its waste facilities, felt that he was always asking the mainland for help.

"When we went to the central administration in Copenhagen, our message was pretty much always the same: ‘we're from Bornholm, we have difficulties with this, that or the other, can you help us in some way?’ - very often with money,” he told the BBC. “And I was thinking, instead of always being the ones who show up and say, ‘we have a problem,’ what if we were the ones who showed up and said 'we have a solution for the rest of you’?”

Hjul-Nielson came up with the “solution” when he learned that the island’s sole incinerator would have to be closed down in 2032. He thought, “Why not get rid of trash, too?” The island also wanted to become carbon neutral in its energy sector, ideally by 2025.

As of October 2023, Bornholm recycled roughly 70% of its waste and received most of its electricity from renewables, with an aim to install new renewable energy in the coming 18 months.

The town is also working on exploiting the power of “biomass,” or organic waste — like agricultural crops, animal manure, and human sewage — that releases chemical energy from the sun. Bornholm’s biomass plant processes approx 120,000 tons of organic waste each year, particularly from slaughtered pigs and compostable diapers, which creates enough gas to power roughly 20% of homes.

But, “the Island that could” can’t do it alone. Eliminating waste is not just an issue for city officials; tourists, residents, and manufacturers need to work together toward sustainability.


“We can’t do it today. Several things need to happen between now and 2032 for this to be possible,” Hjul-Nielsen said. He wanted “better sorting,” “new and smarter technological treatments,” and “dialogue with our users.”

“We cannot solve this task alone,” he said. “We are constantly working to involve a lot of exciting partners so that together we can break the code for a waste-free society.”

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To reach its goal, Bornholm needs more sustainable products like those special, compostable diapers used to produce the gas that powers part of the island. In order to attract partnerships with companies, “Zero Waste Bornholm” was launched as a “platform of innovation and co-creation” where collaborators can work with the island to pilot new “waste and resource solutions.”