This city ski slope heats and powers 150,000 people—by burning their trash.
It sits on top of Copenhagen’s waste-to-energy plant, CopenHill.

In the late 2000s, the city wanted to shut down coal but still had 440,000 tons of non-recyclable waste to deal with every year.
Instead of burying or exporting it, they turned it into energy.

The challenge: build an incinerator that’s clean, efficient, and embraced by locals.
Danish architects BIG—Bjarke Ingels Group proposed something radical: make it visible, fun, educational, and a true public place.

Enter CopenHill (opened 2017): a sharp, industrial building with high-performance filters to limit emissions.
On the roof: a 400 m ski slope, an 85 m climbing wall, hiking trails, and a 10,000 m² green roof.

It reflects Copenhagen’s ambition to lead on urban sustainability.
CopenHill doesn’t hide waste. It shows it, treats it, and transforms it.

Today, CopenHill =
♻️ 440,000 tons of waste transformed each year
🏠 Heat & power for 150,000 residents
🌱 A green roof, sports, and public space on top of an industrial plant

Would you ski on a power plant?

#climatetech #wastetoenergy #urbaninnovation #CopenHill #Copenhagen #BIG #architecture #sustainability #deeptech #Reactor

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