In September 2016, it was decided by a majority of the City of Copenhagen’s Technical and Environmental Administration that all citizens in Copenhagen should sort their organic waste.

The decision will be put into action this week as green kitchen baskets and biodegradable bags are being delivered to households for food scraps, coffee grounds and eggshells. 

The city is supplying courtyards with brown containers, which they hope to collect a significant amount of biodegradable waste from. According to the City of Copenhagen, the average household in Copenhagen produces around 3.5 kilo of organic waste a week. In 2016, a total of 57,000 tonnes of organic waste was produced.

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By the end of the year, all parts of the city will be included

From August to November, the project will gradually expand to all parts of the city. After three months, all 280,000 apartments within the municipality are expected to be a part of the new initiative.

Back in 2014, all of the city’s 20,000 houses were offered a container for the disposal of organic waste, which has meant that one third of house owners are already a part of the arrangement at present. However, start packages will now be delivered to the remaining houses in November and December unless the given house owner decides against it.

The City of Copenhagen’s target is to sort and recycle 45 per cent of the city’s household waste by 2018.

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Last year politicians changed their strategy for achieving this goal. Originally, the plan was a technological solution for separating organic waste and metal without the help of local citizens. Now politicians are counting on the goodwill of citizens:

“It might be difficult for a private individual to see how they might influence the climate agenda. But here is a tangible action that will make a significant difference”, says the Mayor of Technical and Environmental Affairs of Copenhagen, Morten Kabell in a press release.

 - Source: Politiken