Swedish Waste Management Explained

Swedish Waste Management (Swedish: Avfall Sverige) is a public association for waste management and recycling in Sweden.^[1] Established in 1974, it is headquartered in Malmö with a main branch in Stockholm.^[2] Its main vision is zero waste.^[3] Tony Clark is its managing director since 2019.^[4] It is a member of the Municipal Waste Europe,^[5] an umbrella organisation of public waste management bodies in European countries that was established in 2008.^[6] Since 2022, it partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for "global climate mitigation and adaptation efforts and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development."^{[7] [8]}

The Swedish Waste Management has made Sweden one of the most efficient and effective countries in waste management. As of 2020, Sweden produces about 152 million tonnes of waste, most of which (76%) are from mining and some (less than 1%) are hazardous that could not be processed.^[9] Only 0.7% of the total household and industrial waste is disposed, and the rest is recycled. Sweden imports about two million tonnes of waste from neighbouring countries to make profitable recycling products.^[10] As of 2023 report, Sweden generated 1.7 billion euros in 2020 (the highest so far was 1.98 billion euros in 2016) from recycling waste.^[11]

In 1975, the waste recycling accounted for only 38% of the total waste. The Swedish government introduced more effective policies in the 1990s.^[12] By 2018, more than 99% of the wastes were recycled.^[13] The Swedish Waste Management and other waste recycling agencies used up the wastes so much that since 2010, Sweden started importing garbage mainly from Great Britain and Norway. By 2015, about 950,000 homes are heated and 260,000 homes received electricity from reusing the waste.^[14]

Notes and References

1. Aid . Graham . Eklund . Mats . Anderberg . Stefan . Baas . Leenard . 2017 . Expanding roles for the Swedish waste management sector in inter-organizational resource management . Resources, Conservation and Recycling . en . 124 . 85–97 . 10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.04.007.
2. Web site: Avfall Sverige – Swedish Waste Management . 2023-06-06 . Avfall Sverige . en.
3. Web site: Balaam . Kellie . 2019-12-20 . Turning around WA’s poor reputation on waste . 2023-06-06 . Western Independent . en-US.
4. Web site: 2022 . The Nordic model for biogas solutions – Meeting society's grand challenges: Speakers . 2023-06-06 . Nordic Biogas Conference . en-US.
5. Web site: 2022-06-23 . PRESS RELEASE: NEW BOARD ELECTED IN JUNE 2022 . 2023-06-06 . www.municipalwasteeurope.eu.
6. Web site: History Municipal Waste Europe . 2023-06-06 . www.municipalwasteeurope.eu.
7. Web site: 2022-01-20 . UNDP and Avfall Sverige enter into agreement on global waste management cooperation . 2023-06-06 . Mirage News . en-AU.
8. Web site: 2022-01-20 . UNDP and Avfall Sverige enter into agreement on global waste management cooperation United Nations Development Programme . 2023-06-06 . UNDP . en.
9. 2021 . Total volume of waste generated in Sweden . Svensk Avfallshantering . 40.
10. Web site: Balaam . Kellie . 2019-12-20 . Turning around WA’s poor reputation on waste . 2023-06-06 . Western Independent . en-US.
11. Web site: Sweden: waste collection industry turnover 2020 . 2023-06-06 . Statista . en.
12. Web site: Igini . Martina . 2022-05-26 . How Sweden is Successfully Turning Waste to Energy . 2023-06-09 . Earth.Org . en.
13. News: Yee . Amy . 2018-09-21 . In Sweden, Trash Heats Homes, Powers Buses and Fuels Taxi Fleets . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-06-09 . 0362-4331.
14. Web site: Braw . Elisabeth . 2015-03-27 . Dirty power: Sweden wants your garbage for energy . 2023-06-09 . america.aljazeera.com.