Trash is Treasure: Waste-to-Energy

Trash is Treasure: Waste-to-Energy

October 6, 2025 · 25 min · Season 2 · Episode 8

About this episode

This episode explores waste-to-energy systems and their potential to solve energy and waste issues in Alaska, featuring insights from experts in Copenhagen and Anchorage.

Waste-to-energy systems kill two birds with one stone: they deal with garbage and produce power at the same time. Copenhill in Denmark has been called the coolest power plant in the world, and it's hard to argue with that. It's a place where you can ski down the roof, climb up the side, and then grab coffee under the smokestack — all while the building generates heat and energy for the city. At least one Alaskan community thinks Copenhagen might hold the answer for its energy and waste problems — and that's exactly where this episode takes us. People: Jannik Koppel, Project Manager at ARC - Amager Bakke ; Kelli Toth, Director of Solid Waste Services for the Municipality of Anchorage; Mark Spafford, Anchorage Deputy City Manager Places: Copenhagen, Denmark; Anchorage, Alaska Technology/Concepts: waste-to-energy, waste incinerator generator, solid waste recycling Closing the Gap is hosted by Gwen Holdmann. Tony Williams is our producer and engineer. Jennifer Pemberton is our writer and editor. Music is from Blue Dot Sessions.

People in this episode

Host: Gwen Holdmann

Guests: Jannik Koppel, Kelli Toth, Mark Spafford

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ARC - Amager Bakke, Municipality of Anchorage

Places: Copenhagen, Denmark, Anchorage, Alaska

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