Denmark's consumption of plastic and textiles is increasing, and this is a problem. Not only because it emits enormous amounts of CO2 to produce Danes' short-lived clothing, packaging and plastic products. Also because a large part of the materials are not reused or recycled, but end up either as waste in nature or in the wrong waste bin and thus in the incineration, where they again emit greenhouse gases.

This is, among other things, what the research project Change4Circularity must contribute to solving.

The research is led by the University of Southern Denmark, Roskilde University and the Royal Academy and is carried out in collaboration with the national science centre Astra, which is behind the Mass Experiment. In addition, the Circular Industry Association, the Danish Nature Conservation Association, Plastic Change and the Green Transition Denmark are partners in the project.

The research and innovation project is supported with 7,4 million by the Innovation Fund Denmark and part of TRACE, the national partnership for circular economy.

Largest collection of data

The starting point for the research is the collection of data via Astra's Mass Experiment, in which almost 30.000 children and young people participated.

Over a few weeks in August and September 2024, students from primary and secondary schools conducted a survey and collected data about plastic pollution in Danish nature, plastic waste management at home, and textiles in their own wardrobes.

Results video for the participating students from Astra mass experiment 2024 'From Supermarket to Trash Can'.

The research will be part of Astra's Mass Experiment 'From Supermarket to Trash Can' in 2024, and the preliminary results can be found in the results report from Astra. HERE.

Plastic in nature – cigarette butts and nicotine pouches stand out

One of the three focus areas was on plastic in nature. A total of 128.724 pieces of plastic were collected in nature. Here, cigarette butts took a big first place with 37.136 cigarette butts collected, which is a slight increase compared to the results from 2019, where plastic in nature was also collected in a mass experiment.

A new category in the 2024 mass experiment is nicotine pouches, which ranked sixth for plastic collected in nature with 6.014 pieces.

On the other hand, the straws and stirrers category is almost half in 2024, compared to the results from 2019.

Since the experiment in 2019, an extended producer responsibility (EPR) has been adopted, which, among other things, imposes a tax on cigarettes and an information requirement. This is considered 'soft' legislation. In addition, a ban on plastic straws has been adopted, which is an example of 'tough' legislation.

According to Kristian Syberg, associate professor at RUC, the 2024 results indicate that 'hard' legislation has a significantly greater effect than 'soft' legislation in relation to plastic in nature. While cigarette butts in nature in 2024 have not decreased compared to 2019, plastic straws and stirrers have decreased significantly. However, it is possible that soft legislation can have an effect if the taxes are so high that it has a major impact on the price.

Find more information about sorting household plastic waste and textiles in the mass experiment results report. HERE.