Copenhagen is giving its 50 million nappies a second life instead of a bonfire

Every year, Copenhagen sends about 50 million used nappies to be burned. The city has begun rolling out separate nappy bins in apartment courtyards and municipal nurseries — already reaching buildings home to about 60% of its apartment blocks — so the material can be recovered instead. A new treatment plant in Hvidovre, due to start in February 2027, could recover up to 94% of a nappy: plastics for new products, and fibres that become biogas and fertiliser. The city aims to collect 5,000 tonnes of nappy waste a year by 2029, and families in houses, care homes and accommodation for older residents join the scheme through 2027. As climate mayor Line Barfod notes, a city full of young children has a great deal to recycle.

SDG 12 · Responsible consumption and production — Mechanism: institutional program