Returning: Horizons

On Saturday, BBC World News launches the second series of Horizons, a collection of ten programmes exploring the business world of the future.

Presented by business journalist Adam Shaw, it will look at business ideas that could shape mankind’s future from such countries as Brazil, China, Israel and Turkey.

“We’ve been travelling the world on a intriguing and inspiring tour of the boundaries of innovation. Looking at the ideas and business areas that are really going to have an impact on how we live in the future and assessing the big issues they could tackle,” says Shaw.

The first episode takes a look at waste management and recycling in Denmark. It looks at how the Danes produce more waste per person than any other country in Europe, but how very little of it ends up in landfill, because they have world class methods of effectively recycling or incinerating waste. Denmark is currently converting waste to energy, and this has promoted initiatives which have turned recycling from a chore to a habit.

In the programme Adam Shaw visits numerous locations in Denmark and speaks to experts including Lars Peterson, the Chief Executive of Stena Recycling, Mette Bak Andersen, Founder of Copenhagen Forever who make new products from waste plastic and David Zahle, Partner BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group who are architects designing a new incinerator to be completed by 2016.

Martin Lidegaard from the Danish Green Think Tank, Concito features in the programme and says: “Recycling is probably the biggest challenge of all we have, because if we are not getting better in using the resources and raw materials from mother nature in a more efficient way, we will simply not be able to keep up growth and welfare for the increased amount of people on this earth. This is a social, economic and environmental imperative – if we are not better in recycling and reusing our resources we will not succeed in the enormous challenges we are facing.”

Horizons airs Saturdays at 10.30am and 1pm, and Sundays at 8pm AEDT on BBC World News.