Proposal for a smarter use of plastic

The inquiry would like to highlight several areas where we can see development potential for waste preventing efforts as well as pro-longed lifecycles. Different actors can act in different ways:

• Public actors have the opportunity to act as role models when it comes to minimising and streamlining society’s use of plastic, both through proactive waste preventing decisions and through public procurement.

• Private actors can examine where within the own operation im-provements may be made, what type of products the company is providing as well as how the customers may be influenced to make more conscious choices.

• Users and consumers have the opportunity to impact the develop-ment through their choices, e.g. by opting out of a certain product or by choosing a more sustainable one.

3.1.1 Plastic in a circular economy

Large volumes of plastics are used within the public sector and there is a large development potential both for reducing unnecessary use and for streamlining usage. For instance, in the collaboration project Minskad klimatpåverkan från plast i kommunal verksamhet (Reduced environmental impact from plastic in municipal operations) the mu-nicipalities Uppsala, Eskilstuna, Norrköping and Linköping have identified that the operations within their municipalities cause emis-sions of approximately 4 000 tons of carbon dioxide annually solely from the use of disposables made from fossil plastic (Hilding, 2018).

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A large part of the effort of streamlining the use of plastic is in changing the way we work regarding routines and behaviour.

A fundamental part of moving towards a more sustainable society is in the prevention of waste, including plastic waste. An obstacle for public operations is a lack of clear requirements from the state and a low priority from management teams (SOU 2017:22). The Environ-mental Protection Agency have developed new regulations and guide-lines concerning municipal waste plans for prevention and manage-ment of waste (NFS 2017:2).

Another obstacle may be in the funding of waste prevention mea-sures. At the present, the use of collection fees to finance waste prevention measures within the own operation is not allowed. Instead, these measures must be financed through taxes. We therefore believe, in line with the Inquiry on circular economy (SOU 2017:22), that the government ought to consider giving temporary financial support to municipalities for strategic efforts for waste prevention within the mu-nicipalities’ operations. From 2010 to 2014, municipalities and county councils could apply for energy efficiency support from the Swedish Energy Agency¹,². This support has, according to SOU 2017:22, yiel-ded good results for the municipalities and the county councils’ energy efficiency efforts. A similar support would likely aid the municipalities’

waste prevention efforts. SOU 2017:22 also suggests that the munici-palities, through a clarification in the waste regulation (2011:927), should be presented with the obligation to inform citizens about how waste can be prevented. Such information, on why and how the house-holds may prevent waste, can result in changed attitudes and consumer behaviours. To ease funding of the municipalities’ expanded responsi-bility for waste prevention, SOU 2017:22 suggests that the collection fee could be used for waste prevention efforts aimed at the households.

Additionally, it is suggested that the municipality is presented with the obligation of facilitating collection and sorting of reusable products.

For waste prevention in government agencies, SOU 2017:22 sug-gests that the organisation ought to have an obligation to prevent waste in its operation within the scope of an environmental manage-ment system. We endorse this suggestion with the addition that it

1 www.energimyndigheten.se/energieffektivisering/program-och-uppdrag/

avslutadeprogram/Statligt-stod-till-energieffektivisering-i-kommuner-och-landsting/

(Visited 2018-11-09).

2 The regulation (2009:1533) on governmental aid for energy efficiency in municipalities and county councils.

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ought to be clarified that purchase and procurement is a part of the waste prevention effort. We believe that manuals for waste preven-tion, including plastic waste, in the operations and during purchases and procurements should be made available on a national level as well as being expanded to cover more operations.

3.1.2 Reduce excessive use of disposables

Obstacles for an increased use of multiple-use products may comprise of an excessive fear of spreading infection or breaking e.g. hygiene and food regulations (Nielsen, 2018). However, the administration that is responsible for food control in the City of Gothenburg have reviewed this and reached the conclusion that there are no rules in the food legislation that forbids food operations, i.e. restaurants and shops, from placing the food in the customer’s brought along packaging³.

Obstacles may also be deep-rooted habits and behaviours, which are created by the access of disposables, skillful marketing, as well as convenience. Several of these factors apply to individual consumers as well as for operations (Nielsen, 2018). For instance, health care is moving increasingly towards disposables, even within areas where it is not needed. One example is Region Jönköping where it was identi-fied that approximately 70 000 disposable plastic egg cups were used annually (Bremle, 2018).

Apart from information concerning what applies for disposables and multiple-use products in relation to hygiene, food safety and infection protection security, more fact-based knowledge and easily accessible information is needed regarding which alternatives that are most environmentally sound from relevant environmental standpoints.

The inquiry therefore believes that the Environmental Protection Agency ought to be given the task of developing and packaging, based on relevant methods and lifecycle assessments, fact-based information that is easily accessible.

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https://goteborg.se/wps/portal/press-och-media/aktuelltarkivet/aktuellt/29760b24-b2d8-A smarter use SOU 2018:84

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3.1.3 Requirements in public procurement

Public procurement in Sweden comprise of approximately 640 bil-lion Swedish Kronor each year (Upphandlingsmyndigheten, 2017).

The National Agency for Public Procurement have an important role in supporting and driving the development for an environmentally sustainable public procurement. To reach this, the agency develops methods and tools as well as produces criteria for environmentally sustainable procurements. The database on the agency’s website is an example of such a tool where one can find criteria for environmentally sustainable development. The database contains over 600 unique sus-tainability criteria within a dozen of product groups⁴.

Many municipal waste plans contain goals regarding the preven-tion of waste through public procurement, but these have turned out to be difficult to implement in the daily operations. The existing obstacles for waste prevention requirements being implemented in public procurements can be primarily summarised in four areas: know-ledge, time, market and organisation (Avfall Sverige, 2018a).

The criteria effort that the National Agency for Public Procure-ment conducts is an important support for procurers, but several actors that the inquiry have been in contact with state that the criteria effort needs to be intensified. Both through new sustainability criteria being developed for new areas and an increase in the rate of updates for existing sustainability criteria. Furthermore, the actors call for more knowledge support, e.g. in the form of a clear and updated ac-counts concerning the current knowledge surrounding different types of plastic. Regarding this call for knowledge support, it can be men-tioned that RE:Source will develop a support function that can be used during public procurements. In addition, there is demand for a more national coordination, to avoid municipalities spending time and pro-ject money on work that has already been conducted. Another proposal is that the National Agency for Public Procurement aids and supports the municipalities’ efforts by establishing an inspiration bank with quality-controlled examples. For such an inspiration bank to serve its purpose, it needs to fulfil the Public Procurement Act (2016:1145) and be well-described. For instance, background documents need to be made available with the purpose of allowing others to reuse that which has already been conceived.

4 www.upphandlingsmyndigheten.se/hallbarhet/stall-hallbarhetskrav/ (Visited 2018-10-15).

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To reach a more effective procurement, from the operations’ de-mands, one can use client groups. A client group entails that a network is established to conduct requirement analysis, develop common norms and methods, evaluate different solutions and participate in establishing new solutions. Procurements where waste prevention criteria and desires for more circular products are established, is an area that is dif-ficult to accommodate through normal criteria development and it is here that client groups could likely fill an important role (Dahlgren Axelsson, 2018).

The Environmental Protection Agency have, within the govern-ment mandate concerning microplastic, initiated a client group for reducing the environmental impacts from artificial grass fields⁵. This means that the Environmental Protection Agency funds the client group’s organisation as well as means for different types of preliminary studies, investigations and tests with the purpose of increasing the knowledge regarding artificial grass fields’ environmental impact and how it can be reduced. Furthermore, there are more than likely several plastic streams within the public sector that would be appropriate for a similar approach.

A client group however, does require considerable efforts from the included organisations and it can therefore be more effective with other kinds of input configurations to meet the organisations’ de-mands. Such inputs can comprise of tools such as guidelines and aids for calculating environmental benefits from different action alterna-tives, establishing networks and conducting training (Malmgren, 2018).

3.1.4 Increased and safe reuse

Swedish consumers are generally positive to both selling and buying used products (SOU 2017:22; Svensk Handel, 2017). One way of further strengthening the second-hand market can be for stores to offer an increasing number of used products parallel with brand new ones, as well as increasing the availability in inner cities and existing shopping malls. Apart from availability, consumers are also governed by price and time required. Therefore, instruments for equalising the price difference between new and repaired/used products is needed.

5 www.naturvardsverket.se/Miljoarbete-i-samhallet/Miljoarbete-i-Sverige/

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Examples of such instruments can be reduced VAT for smaller repairs of certain products, RUT (Cleaning, Maintenance, Extension) de-duction for IT services performed in households as well as repairs and maintenance of appliances performed in households. In the Report of the Inquiry on Circular Economy (SOU 2017:22) it is expressed that a tax shift from work to material would promote repairs and purchases of used products, as well as promote circular business models that offer a function instead of a product. Additionally, it is established that a reduction in VAT on services, without reducing the VAT on the products, could give a tax shift with low administra-tive costs and good environmental effects (SOU 2017:22). How-ever, Sweden does not have national resource over the VAT system, which is regulated by the EU’s VAT Directive. The directive speci-fically explains in which cases a lower VAT may be charged and Sweden has already carried out the VAT reductions that are possible, in accordance with the current directive and those which can stimulate a more circular economy (SOU 2017:22). Therefore, the government ought to act for the directive to be changed and to be formulated to support the EU’s ambitions on resource effectiveness and circular economy.

Another challenge for an increased reusage of goods is to ensure that goods containing undesired substances are not recirculated. The inquiry notes that more cohesive information is needed for consumers and organisations concerning when it is, from an environmental and safety perspective, unsuitable to reuse products. To avoid that un-desired substances are recirculated, a list or manual of products known for containing such substances can be developed and used as information for second-hand retailers and consumers.

3.1.5 The consumer perspective

Several of the business models described in this chapter, demand aware and committed consumers and users that make active choices.

However, the responsibility cannot primarily be placed on the indi-vidual consumer but also on companies, governments and authorities.

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In conclusion, sustainable plastic usage among consumers is strength-ened if:

• Bans against certain plastic products are introduced.

• Active choices are required to use certain plastic products.

• Desired behaviours are rewarded by making it more or less expensive to make certain choices.

• There are options, which makes it easier to opt out of certain pro-ducts.

• There exists readily available and fact-based information that supports conscious choices.

3.1.6 Privately imported goods and accompanying packaging Privately imported goods from a third-party country, primarily China, increased by 65 percent between 2016 and 2017⁶. The goods’ packaging is often handed in to the packaging collection. This means that the costs for privately imported packaging is managed by the current pro-ducer responsibility for packaging, which in turns means an unequal competition for the Swedish producers. Several actors have pointed out that this burdens the current producer responsibility. The En-vironmental Protection Agency have been given the task of investi-gating and proposing how the accompanying packaging from privately imported goods ought to be handled in relation to the regulation (2018:1642) on producer responsibility for packaging.

3.2 Choice of material from function and life-span