The trash silo at a new
incinerator in Copen-
hagen holds more than
24,000 tons. Automatic
cranes mix the waste
to help it burn cleaner.
Equipment to filter the
smoke takes up much
of the plant’s interior. A
clean-burning, energy-
generating incinerator
is a better end for trash
than a dump—but the
circular economy aims
to end trash by not
producing it at all.
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Dubbed Copenhill,
the incinerator in
Denmark’s capital uses
the latest technology
to convert 534,600
tons of waste a year
into energy to electrify
30,000 homes and heat
72,000. The plant dou-
bles as a recreational
destination, with
an all-season ski slope,
a tree-lined hiking
and running trail, and
a 280-foot climbing
wall, the world’s tallest.
ENERGY