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Video: Waste recycling revolution on the example of Sweden
2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55
Sweden today recycles 99% of all waste. This country has become so good at handling waste that it has to import 700 thousand tons of garbage from neighboring countries in order to get energy from it for its own needs. How did they do it?
Today in Sweden the concept of "garbage" is practically absent. One way or another, 99 percent of all household waste is recycled. This country has experienced a real revolution in recent decades, given that in 1975 only 38% of household waste was recycled here.
Today, as a rule, recycling stations are located 300 meters from any residential area. Most Swedes separate all waste for recycling in their homes and store it in special containers or take it directly to a recycling station.
On the way to recycling
“The Swedes can do more, given that about half of all household waste is incinerated, which is converted into energy,” says Weine Wiqvist, CEO of the Association for Waste and Recycling (Avfall Sverige).
He explains that reusing materials or products means less energy is used to create a product. It's better than burning one and making another one from scratch.
We try to encourage recycling as much as possible, not disposal.
Meanwhile, Swedish households continue to separately collect newspapers, plastic, metal, glass, electrical appliances, light bulbs and batteries. Many municipalities also encourage consumers to segregate food waste. And it's all reused, recycled or composted.
Newspapers are turned into pulp, bottles are reused or melted into new elements, plastic containers become plastic raw materials; food is compressed and becomes fertilizer or biogas. Garbage trucks often run on recycled electricity or biogas. Wastewater is treated to the point where it can be drunk. Special trucks drive around the city and pick up electronics and hazardous waste, chemicals. Pharmacists take leftover drugs. Large waste, such as old televisions or broken furniture, is taken by Swedes to recycling centers on the outskirts of cities.
Energy from waste
Waste is a relatively cheap fuel and the Swedes have developed an efficient and profitable technology for converting household waste into electricity. Sweden even imports over 700,000 tons of waste from other countries.
The remaining ash, which is 15% of the original waste weight, is sorted and recycled again. Residues are sieved to extract gravel, which is used in road construction. And only 1% remains and is stored in landfills.
The smoke from incinerators is 99.9 percent non-toxic carbon dioxide and water, but it is still filtered through a dry filter and water. Filter slag is used to fill abandoned mines.
Recycling is voluntary
In Sweden, no one forces anyone to forcibly separate the waste. Everything is built on conscientiousness in consumption. Of course, many environmental protection agencies require the authorities to raise taxes on waste collection. Many eco-activists are convinced that this is the only way to raise citizens' awareness of the general problem of garbage. This is especially true for food waste.
The government is actively developing programs to encourage manufacturers to create better products that would last as long as possible. There are even proposals to reduce taxes for companies that carry out routine repairs of their goods.
They also strive to use less toxic substances in production, which will mean fewer products that require expensive treatment.
Companies that go to the meeting
Several Swedish companies have voluntarily supported this initiative.
For example, H&M began accepting used clothing from customers in exchange for discount coupons.
The Optibag recycling plant has developed a machine that can separate the colored garbage bags from each other. People throw food into a green bag, paper into a red one, and glass or metal into the next. Thus, it was possible to eliminate the marshalling yards.
In the southern Swedish city of Helsingborg, recyclable bins even have music players that play nice music - all in the name of recycling.
Zero Waste is our motto. We would prefer to generate less waste, and all the waste that is generated in one way or another is reused. There is no limit to perfection and we are passionate about this process, says the head of the Wiqvist waste and recycling association.
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