• No results found

From waste management to resource efficiency

N/A
N/A
Protected

Academic year: 2021

Share "From waste management to resource efficiency"

Copied!
115
0
0

Loading.... (view fulltext now)

Full text

(1)

From waste management

to resource efficiency

Sweden's Waste Plan 2012–2017

(2)
(3)

From waste management to

resource efficiency

Sweden's Waste Plan 2012–2017

RepoRt 6560 • May 2012

(4)

Orders

Order line: +46 8 505 933 40 Order fax: +46 8 505 933 99 E-mail: natur@cm.se

Postal address: Arkitektkopia AB, Box 110 93, SE-161 11 Bromma Internet: www.swedishepa.se/publications

Swedish Environmental Protection Agency

Tel +46 10 698 10 00, fax +46 10 698 10 99 E-mail: registrator@swedishepa.se

Postal address: Swedish EPA, SE-106 48 Stockholm Internet: www.swedishepa.se

ISBN 978-91-620-6560-7 ISSN 0282-7298

© Swedish Environmental Protection Agency 2012

Printed by: CM Gruppen AB, Bromma 2012 Design: AB Typoform/Love Lagercrantz Illustrations: AB Typoform

Photos: Gunnar Lidén (cover, small image) and Alberto Jiménez (cover, large image), John Evans (p.13), Felix Heyder/DPA/Scanpix (p.17), Robert Henriksson/SvD/Scanpix (p.37),

(5)

Preface

PuRSuAnT TO DiREcTivE 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives, the competent authority of each Member State is required to establish a waste plan. The waste plan must be evaluated every six years and revised as neces-sary.

Section 83 of the Waste Ordinance (SFS 2011:927) requires the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency to draw up a national waste plan which fulfils the requirements of Articles 28 and 30 of Directive 2008/98/EC. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency is required to update the plan on an ongoing basis and as necessary in order to keep it updated.

This task has been carried out by the Swedish Environmental Protec-tion Agency, and while drafting this report the authors have engaged in a dialogue with representatives of public agencies, trade associations and operators. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency referred the plan to stakeholders for consultative purposes during autumn 2011. The plan has been discussed at meetings with the Swedish Waste Council.

The waste plan was adopted by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency on 16 May 2012.

(6)

Contents

Preface . . . . 5

contents . . . . 6

Summary . . . . 8

Why a waste plan? . . . . 10

Purpose of the plan . . . 10

Target groups . . . 11

Policy under development. . . 11

1 . challenge and vision . . . . 13

a resource-efficient society – vision 2020. . . 15

2 . Waste management . . . . 17

Sorting and collection of waste . . . 18

Waste quantities . . . 21

From landfill to incineration surplus . . . 27

Future capacity for waste treatment. . . 28

The principles of self-sufficiency and proximity. . . 29

Objectives and clarifications concerning the waste field. . . 29

Environmental impact of waste management and treatment. . . 33

Instruments within the field of waste . . . 35

3 . Towards greater resource efficiency . . . . 37

The EU’s waste hierarchy – a starting point . . . 38

The waste hierarchy and the Environmental Code . . . 39

(7)

4 . Priority areas . . . . 47

Basis for selection . . . 48

Objectives and measures – From waste management to resource efficiency . . . 50

Summary of objectives . . . 50

Waste management within the construction and engineering sector . . . . . 53

Construction and demolition waste . . . 53

Waste generated during construction works . . . 58

Household waste . . . . 64

Reuse and preparation for reuse . . . 65

Recycling and collection . . . 72

Electrical waste and batteries . . . 77

Litter generation . . . 79

Resource efficiency in the food-chain . . . . 83

Reducing food waste . . . 83

Recovery of plant nutrients and energy from food waste. . . 89

Waste treatment . . . . 94

End-of-life vehicles . . . 94

Disused landfills . . . 97

Control of atmospheric emissions from waste incineration . . . 100

Fires at waste storage sites . . . 103

illegal export of waste to other countries . . . . 105

5 . Source list . . . . 109

(8)

Summary

WE HAvE gOOD REASOn TO bE PROuD of waste management in Sweden. Landfill is

no longer a primary method for the disposal of waste. Instead, an increasing proportion of waste is treated to recover energy and materials and enable reuse. Rules and routines have been established which set out how hazard-ous waste is to be dealt with and we have producers who take responsibility. However, good needs to become better within many areas - a lot remains to be done to limit the quantity of waste that is generated and to prevent the spreading of hazardous substances. Establishing systems for sustainable waste management and the effective natural resource management repre-sents a major challenge given rising levels of consumption and cross-border global trade.

This waste plan identifies a series of initiatives which must be imple-mented on the road to a more resource-efficient society. To a greater extent than previous waste plans, this plan places more emphasis on the need to re-duce the quantity and hazardous nature of waste through preventing its gen-eration in the first place. This is an area that is supported by the EU's waste hierarchy, which gives preventive work the highest priority. Experience shows that the most effective way of reducing resource consumption and en-vironmental impact is to prevent the waste from being generated in the first place. Although recycling restores resources, it can only compensate for a minor proportion of the resources that are consumed and the environmental impact that arises in connection with the manufacture of new products.

The plan sets out a number of priority areas where measures are needed. The environmental impact of the waste flows and the potential for im-provement guided the selection of areas. Descriptions of objectives and the measures that can be implemented by various actors are presented within the following areas:

❚ Waste management within the construction and engineering sector ❚ Household waste

❚ Resource efficiency in the food-chain ❚ Waste treatment

❚ Illegal export of waste

The measures are aimed at both public authorities and operators. Around forty actors are affected; see the appendix entitled 'Measures per actor'. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and Sweden's municipalities have important roles to play in the development of waste management and are affected by most measures. The aim is to rectify many of the problems that are currently associated with waste. This includes food wastage, insufficient

(9)

sorting of building materials, the leakage of hazardous substances from end-of-life vehicles and the illegal export of waste.

The plan is intended to supplement the Environmental Code and other waste legislation and to contribute to the attainment of relevant objectives within the environmental objective system. The plan's objectives are based on legislation within the EU1 and are intended to bring about better resource

efficiency and waste management. The government's interim objective for construction and demolition waste is for reuse, recycling and other material utilisation of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste to increase to 70 percent by weight by 2020. This figure is currently around 50 percent. The government has also established an interim objective for 2018 of in-creased sorting and biological treatment of food waste.

There is considerable scope for environmental benefits within the field of household waste. This field encompasses many of the waste types which have the greatest impact on climate during their life-cycle. Examples are food, electrical and textile waste. The proposals in the plan include a strong initiative to increase recycling and reuse through information concerning possible environmental benefits, a review of applicable legislation and the promotion of partnerships with actors which collect and sell used products. In the plan, we present possible measures for increasing the collection of food waste and for reducing the amount of food waste.

Examples of measures within other priority areas are: better supervision of end-of-life vehicles, preparation of an inventory and risk classification of landfill sites (Waste treatment) and inspections (Illegal export of waste).

For many areas, promising initiatives and good examples with the pur-pose of inspiring others are presented.

A wide-ranging dialogue with actors within waste management, research institutions and experts within various authorities forms the basis for the proposed measures in the plan. The approach to preparing the waste plan is described in Appendix Approach.

(10)

Why a waste plan?

FROm WASTE mAnAgEmEnT TO RESOuRcE EFFiciEncy is Sweden's Waste Plan 2012–

2017. It supersedes the previous waste plan dating from 2005: A Strategy

for Sustainable Waste Management – Sweden's Waste Plan. An analysis of

the effects of the previous waste plan is presented in the appendix entitled

Evaluation of waste plan 2005. According to the Directive, all EU Member

States are required to draw up waste plans. The countries must also develop special programmes for waste prevention, which must be completed by De-cember 2013. In Sweden, the Swedish Environmental Agency2 is responsible

for drawing up and establishing national waste plans and programmes for waste prevention.

For households in this plan, it is the households' waste that is covered and not what is defined in the Environmental Code as 'household waste'. The Environmental Code also covers household-like waste from activities. New terms used in the EU's Waste Directive4 are "by-products" and

"end-of-waste". Both by-products and waste which has ceased to be waste are no longer classified as waste. In the plan, we focus on waste and its manage-ment. We have therefore decided not to consider these two terms further.

Purpose of the plan

The primary purpose of the national waste plan is to steer waste manage-ment towards greater resource efficiency. It contains objectives and a description of measures for a number of priority areas. The measures are intended to help reduce the quantity and hazardous nature of waste, better utilise the resources in waste, stop the dispersal of hazardous substances and improve waste management generally.

In the waste plan, we also highlight what individual actors can do to achieve the objectives. Partnerships are also needed between many actors: municipalities, county administrative boards, public authorities, industry and the research community. The plan is based on a comprehensive con-sultation process with the actors concerned within the field of waste. The

2 Section 83 of the Waste Ordinance (2011:927). 3 Chapter 15 of the Environmental Code (1998:808).

4 Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Definition of waste

'Waste' means any object or sub-stance that the holder discards or intends or is obliged to discard.3

a substance or object must be deemed a by-product rather than waste if it:

1. was produced in a manufactur-ing process where the main aim was not to produce the substance or object, 2. can be used directly without

any processing other than processing that is normal in industrial practice, and it 3. will continue to be used in a

manner which is acceptable from a health and environmen-tal perspective and which does not breach any legislation or other statute.

a substance or object that has become waste will cease to be waste (end-of-waste) if it has been handled in a way which involves recycling and fulfils the require-ments regarding further use in accordance with provisions issued pursuant to Section 9 or 28 of act (2011:734).

(11)

orientation and formulation of the waste plan have been discussed within the Waste Council and elsewhere.5

The measures in the plan set out the direction towards a more resource-efficient society based on Sweden's environmental objectives and the EU's waste hierarchy. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency will draw up a plan for the way in which we will monitor developments within the field. In the programme to prevent waste and the ongoing work within the field, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency will continue to work on a number of the priority areas that are specified in this plan. In the pro-gramme, we will also draw up proposals for additional objectives, indicators and measures, and analyse the need for new instruments.

Target groups

The driving force of industry to develop products, services, recycling processes, etc. are important if we are to achieve a toxin-free and resource-efficient society. Politicians have a major responsibility to ensure that society is organised so that it is possible to prevent waste and so that waste man-agement follows the waste hierarchy. The waste hierarchy shall apply as a prioritisation scheme for legislation and other instruments.

Key target groups for the national waste plan are politicians and other decision-makers in municipalities and municipal companies, as well as decision-makers within industry. The plan provides guidance for everyone who is working to develop waste management in order to make it more sustainable and resource-efficient. It also provides guidance as regards which measures can be included in municipal waste management plans.

Policy under development

In June 2011, the government decided that a specially appointed investiga-tor should review the field of waste. The purpose of the waste review6 is to

bring about waste management which is both effective for society in terms of resource management and the environment and simple for consumers and other user groups. The review is to primarily cover the organisation and responsibility for the collection and management of household waste, but certain aspects of industrial waste are also covered by the remit. The com-missioned report is to be submitted during 2012.

The national waste plan is to apply for the period 2012-2017. The plan may need to be revised if the policy within the field changes.

5 The Waste Council is the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's

expert council for waste issues and consists of around 15 members from various areas of society. The Council is an advisory body only and not a decision-making body. On average, three meetings a year are held.

(12)
(13)
(14)

THE glObAl POPulATiOn iS RiSing, as is the number of countries experiencing

economic growth. Historically, there has been a strong link between the quantity of waste that is generated and economic growth/consumption, i.e. waste quantities have increased when consumption has risen. The environ-ment and climate are adversely affected. Demand for raw materials and min-erals is increasing, yet the availability of many raw materials is decreasing at the same time. Influencing this development represents one of the biggest challenges of our time.

In Sweden, waste management is considerably more resource-efficient today than it was during the 1990s. We have become much better at utilis-ing the materials and energy that are contained in waste. The trend points towards rising quantities of waste, even though the objective within both the EU and Sweden is for quantities to decrease. There are scenario calculations which suggest that waste quantities in Sweden may double by 2030 if no ac-tion is taken to reverse the trend.7

More waste is leading to higher overall costs and greater environmental impact from consumption and production, even though the management of each individual tonne of waste is actually improving. Ensuring that as little waste as possible is generated gives environmental benefits which are often considerably greater than the environmental benefits that the waste gives rise to through energy recovery or recycling. In cases where waste is generated in spite of measures, we need to become better still at utilising the materials and energy in the waste effectively.

We also have a lot to gain from reducing the quantity of hazardous sub-stances in waste. While the use of many of the most hazardous subsub-stances has ceased or decreased, the use of similar substances with somewhat less hazardous properties or with to some extent unknown environmental prop-erties has increased at the same time. This applies to various types of flame retardant, plasticizers, etc. Large quantities of the most common heavy met-als and pollutants met-also remain in products which have not yet become waste. Cleaner waste facilitates recycling and reduces the risk of the dispersal of hazardous substances from waste management.

Working to promote resource-efficient material and waste management, free from hazardous substances, is important in order to achieve the over-arching objective for environmental policy in Sweden. This objective is to hand over to the next generation (in 2020) a society in which the major environmental problems have been overcome, without causing increased en-vironmental and health problems outside the borders of Sweden. Read more about the environmental quality objectives in the section entitled Objectives

and clarifications concerning the field of waste.

The Waste Hierarchy9 in the EU's Waste Directive (see Chapter 3) shows how

waste should be managed in order to achieve greater resource efficiency. As a general rule, resource efficiency increases, the further up in the hierarchy you go.

7 Östblom G, Ljunggren Söderman M and Sjöström M (2010) 8 Ekvall T (2008)

9 Article 4 of Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 19 November 2008 on waste.

We have much to gain from pre-venting waste. For example, if we reduce the quantity of household waste that is generated by just five percent, emissions of greenhouse gases would decrease by the equivalent of 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. This is comparable with the emissions from the energy consumption of a medium-sized Swedish city (50,000 inhabitants).8

(15)

a resource-efficient society – vision 2020.

What would a society within which waste quantities have been reduced and we have become better at utilising the resources in waste be like? Join us on a city tour in the year 2020.

"The future is hidden in a veil of mist. We can't see. We don't know. But just for a moment, the fog disperses. Take the chance! Join us! We have ended up in a city. It is spring, with verdant greens and blackbirds singing. There is no rubbish to be seen rolling along the streets as the wind dances between the buildings.

A man walks down the street with a pair of shoes in his hand. The shoemaker is just around the corner. It is cheaper to mend things than to buy new. A young woman goes up the stairs to borrow a drill from her neighbour. She has just moved in and was thinking of putting up some nice new book-shelves which she has inherited from her grandmother.

We walk on and pass a rented house. The J family are going through their fridge to see whether they have any food waste which can be transformed into an exciting new dish. Refried beans, egg, pasta, cooked parsnips… Well, something delicious can no doubt be made out of it. No food is thrown out unnecessarily. People do not want to waste resources. Skin, bones and other inedible things are collected in and turned into biogas.

We continue and end up in a residential area. At the end of the street is a shed which contains the neighbourhood's shared tools. Lawnmower, hack-saw and axe. Why would everyone buy everything for themselves? By shar-ing ownership, we live more resource-efficiently and meet each other more often, leading to greater well-being.

Back in the city centre. Two teenage boys are waiting for the clothes library to open. They're going to a concert tonight. If they borrow clothes, rather than buying new ones, they can go to twice as many concerts.

At a café, in the shade beneath an apple tree in bloom sits an elderly man and an elderly lady, chatting about waste.

"Imagine, in the past people used to throw away perfectly good things at the recycling centres. "Crazy," he says and puts his glass of orange juice down thoughtfully.

"Yes, and the illegal export of hazardous waste. Thank goodness we man-aged to stop that, she says.

They nod in agreement. It was no better before. Companies now design products so that they can be reused or recycled and they contain no hazard-ous substances. When buildings are demolished now, all materials are sorted at source. High-quality doors, cupboards and windows are recovered and reused. What cannot be used again is turned into new materials."

(16)
(17)
(18)

cHAngES in THE mAnAgEmEnT of waste in Sweden have been introduced

gradu-ally and have above all resulted in changes in the delegation of responsibility. During the 1990s, producer responsibility was introduced for packaging and news and pams (graphic papers). Since 2002, it has been prohibited to dispose of unsorted burnable waste at a landfill site. In 2005, the ban was extended to cover all organic waste with certain exceptions. We have replaced a system based on landfill with a system where the focus is placed on disposal with resource utilisation through recycling and incineration with energy recovery.

In connection with the introduction of producer responsibility for vari-ous types of waste, the municipalities' responsibilities relating to waste have changed, partly through the abolition of the exclusive municipal right concerning the disposal of waste, both non-hazardous and hazardous, from undertakings. At the same time, the requirement for the sorting of burnable waste and the ban on the landfill of organic waste has led to greater demands being placed on municipalities and operators. The delegation of responsibility imposes requirements on partnerships between the various actors, but has also contributed to greater competition within the waste market.

Sorting and collection of waste

Household waste

The municipalities are responsible for the collection and disposal of waste from households. The exception from this is waste that is covered by pro-ducer responsibility, which covers a high proportion of household waste in the form of paper, metal, glass and plastic. Among other things, producer re-sponsibility means that producers must ensure that there are suitable collec-tion systems and that a certain quantity of the waste undergoes recycling. In Sweden, we now have a statutory producer responsibility for eight product groups: packaging, tyres, news and pams (graphic papers), cars, electrical and electronic products (including incandescent bulbs and certain light fit-tings), batteries, pharmaceuticals, radioactive products and unclaimed radio-active sources. There are also voluntary undertakings similar to producer responsibility, for office paper and farm plastic.

Today, the producers' collection system for packaging waste and news and pams (graphic papers) consists10 of a nationwide scheme with recycling

stations. Producers also subsidise the establishment of collection systems in residential areas where packaging waste and news and pams (graphic papers) are sorted and collected. Such collection systems are provided either by the municipality or by the property owner. The contractor that is hired by the municipality or the property owner delivers the collected waste to a collection point nominated by one of the producers. There, the collected waste is baled for forwarding and recycling. Behind the recycling stations is the limited company Förpacknings- och tidningsinsamlingen (FTI). A joint

10 Section 8 of Ordinance (2006:1273) on producer responsibility for

pack-aging, Section 5 of Ordinance (1994:1205) on producer responsibility for news and pams (graphic papers).

(19)

usufruct agreement has been established with other suppliers of producer responsibility services concerning use of the recycling stations. FTI is owned by the four materials companies Plastkretsen, MetallKretsen, Returkartong and Pressretur. The companies have a collaboration agreement with Svensk GlasÅtervinning. The collection and treatment of packaging waste is financed via packaging taxes, which are paid by the producers who have de-cided to establish an affiliation with a materials company for each package that is placed on the market. Producers who are not affiliated to the material companies are obliged to take responsibility for collection and recycling themselves. Producers are responsible for ensuring that companies are given information on what they must do with used packaging. The municipality is responsible for ensuring that households are given information. The col-lection and processing of news and pams (graphic papers) is financed by the forestry industry.

The municipality is also responsible for the disposal of bulky household waste. Bulky waste is often defined as the component of household waste which is heavy or bulky or has other properties which render it unsuit-able for collecting in bags or containers.11 In a report on the management

of bulky waste in Sweden12 it was concluded that the largest quantities of

bulky waste are collected via the municipalities' staffed collection centres, or recycling centres, 13 to which households take their waste. Bulky waste

that is not collected via the municipal recycling centres is instead collected from the property where the waste is generated. Collection systems within residential areas vary from municipality to municipality. They may involve the collection of bulky waste from special bulky refuse rooms provided by the property owner, or so-called 'campaign collections', where special refuse collection vehicles visit residential areas or towns on one or two occasions a year. A municipality may also offer collection to order or upon request. Both permanent and temporary containers may also be provided in areas of apart-ments where there are no bulky refuse rooms.14

The increase in recycling has resulted in a relatively complex system for the collection of household waste. The current system requires sorting into 10-15 fractions, depending on how the individual municipality specifies that sorting should be carried out (burnable waste, biological waste, bulky waste, plastic, metal, glass and paper packaging, newspapers, electrical waste, bat-teries, medicines, other hazardous waste and bottles and jars for recycling. This takes place both in the home and in the urban environment.

SIFO surveys15 show that households have become more satisfied with the

collections (Table 1). They also indicate that both the services themselves and the collection levels could be further improved.

11 See for example Section 5 of NFS 2004:4.

12 Swedish Waste Management (2010). Report U2010:05.

13 Normally known as recycling centres, but in some municipalities they are

known as 'ecocycle centres' or 'reuse centres'.

14 Swedish Waste Management (2010), Report U2010:05. 15 SIFO's Telefonbuss 2006 and 2011.

(20)

Table 1 . Proportion of households (percentage) which are satisfied or very satisfied

with collections.

Type of waste 2006 2011

Newspapers 89 89

Packaging 80a 82–89 (plastic lowest, glass highest)

Electrical waste 64 78 Hazardous waste 65 76

Bulky waste 75 79

Food waste - 65

Batteries - 84

a In the 2006 survey, the questions were not subdivided according to packaging type.

Source: SIFO's Telefonbuss 2006 and 2011.

The households which in 2011 responded that the collections did not work very well gave the following reasons:

❚ Poor service/too far to walk/requires a car 45 percent ❚ Collection centre untidy 21 percent ❚ Poor information concerning sorting 14 percent

One way of measuring availability is to carry out waste component analyses in order to determine how much waste ends up in the "wrong" system. An overview from 2011 of 246 waste component analyses shows that, in purely theoretical terms, around 60 percent of what is placed in household refuse bags could be sorted and undergo recycling.16 The overview also shows that

the collection system has a major impact on sorting. The highest sorting rates are seen for detached housing with collection close to the property. Here, the quantity of packaging and newspapers in the residual waste is half that of other households, and the total quantity of residual waste is almost 40 percent less.

commercial waste

The responsibility for waste generated by undertakings has been transferred from the municipality to the individual operator. An operator is responsible for ensuring that its waste is managed in an acceptable manner from an en-vironmental and health perspective. However, the operator is not responsible for management of the waste that is covered by the exclusive municipal right concerning waste that is comparable to household waste. In practice, this means that the municipality will dispose of waste that is comparable with household waste and that the operator will hire a contractor to dispose of the remaining waste. Alternatively, the operator may take the waste to the mu-nicipal recycling centre, where it will be accepted upon payment of a charge.

(21)

As regards the collection of producer responsibility fractions, there are differences between small and large undertakings. In the case of smaller undertakings that generate insufficient volumes of waste, most municipalities offer the producers collection points to which undertakings can deliver their packaging free of charge. Larger undertakings often establish an agreement with collection contractors and pay for waste disposal themselves, or alter-natively receive payment depending on the prevailing prices for the waste on the global market.

Waste quantities

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency collates statistics concerning waste flows within society, the way in which waste is processed and how much waste is generated within different sectors. The statistics are used to monitor and evaluate measures within the field of waste, e.g. the Waste Directive's objectives at EU level and Sweden's environmental quality objec-tives. Every other year, Sweden reports waste statistics to the EU. The sum-mary is based on information concerning waste which was generated two years before the report is submitted. More information on waste statistics, including methodology and quality descriptions, can be found in the appen-dix entitled Waste statistics and on the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's website, www.naturvardsverket.se.

Throughout the EU, almost 3 billion tonnes of waste are generated every year. Sweden accounts for a relatively high proportion of this waste. Per capita, Sweden lies in sixth place among the EU's Member States, with a quantity of waste per person which is more than twice the EU average. It is mining waste in particular which causes Sweden to generate such large quantities of waste. As regards household waste, Sweden, with approx. 500 kg per person and year, is neither high nor low compared with other EU countries. The corresponding figures for 2008 were 800 kg per person and year in Ireland and 300 kg per person and year for the Czech Republic.

According to the waste statistics17 almost 100 million tonnes of waste

were generated in Sweden in 2008. Approximately 60 million tonnes con-sisted of waste from resource extraction, of which 83 percent was mining waste which was dumped close to the mines. Excluding waste from the resource extraction industry, the quantity of waste generated was 39 mil-lion tonnes. Of this quantity, 7 milmil-lion tonnes were generated in connection with pulp and paper production. The energy, water, waste and construction sectors generated around 7.4 million tonnes of waste, while households generated around 5 million tonnes, the service sector around one million tonnes and the forestry, agriculture and fisheries industries approximately 300,000 tonnes.

17 The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's Waste in Sweden 2008,

Report 6362; Waste in Sweden 2006, Report 5868 and Waste in Sweden 2004, Report 5593.

(22)

30.1

20.7

In-house treatment

Undertakings: 64.1

Treatment of waste

Generation of waste, undertakings: 89

Generation of waste, households: 5.2

Generation of waste, import: 0.7

Waste for treatment

Undertakings: 24.9

6.9 Unknown treatment and other export

0.36 Export 1.3 Other disposal 3.5 Landfill 6.2 Use as fuel 4.8 Water treatment works 9.4 Pre-treatment and sorting 8.7 Recycling, including composting and digestion 2.8

Incineration Landfill59.6 Other disposal0.1 1.6

Recycling

(23)

30.1

20.7

In-house treatment

Undertakings: 64.1

Treatment of waste

Generation of waste, undertakings: 89

Generation of waste, households: 5.2

Generation of waste, import: 0.7

Waste for treatment

Undertakings: 24.9

6.9 Unknown treatment and other export

0.36 Export 1.3 Other disposal 3.5 Landfill 6.2 Use as fuel 4.8 Water treatment works 9.4 Pre-treatment and sorting 8.7 Recycling, including composting and digestion 2.8

Incineration Landfill59.6 Other disposal0.1 1.6

(24)

Of the 100 million tonnes of waste generated in Sweden in 2008, 76 percent was disposed off in landfills, 12 percent underwent recycling, 10 percent was used as fuel, and 2 percent consisted of untreated leachate. Based on these figures, it is apparent that Sweden is a country in which large quanti-ties of waste are disposed of via landfills. The reason for this is again largely down to Sweden's mining activity. If the waste from mineral extraction is excluded, the picture is different. With this assumption, 15 percent is disposed of via landfill. Recycling accounted for 42 percent, 37 percent was used as fuel and 6 percent consisted of untreated leachate. The disposal of household waste via landfill in Sweden has fallen by more than in other EU countries. Just one percent went for landfill in 2010. Instead, the waste undergoes recycling or is incinerated.

Waste from industry

A large proportion of waste from industry originates from the resource extraction industry. It is dominated by our large mines and dressing plants and is by some margin the sector in Sweden which generates the most waste. In 2008, resource extraction accounted for almost 59 million tonnes of industry's total of around 70 million tonnes of waste. Other sectors which generate a lot of waste are the pulp and paper industry, which accounts for 7.4 million tonnes, and the metals industry, which accounts for almost 2.5 million tonnes. Collectively, other industry generates about as much waste as the metals industry. A considerable quantity of waste, 64.1 million tonnes, undergoes final treatment at the industrial plant where it is generated.

Approximately one third (9.4 million tonnes) of the waste that is not treated at the location where it is generated is transported to special facili-ties, where it is pretreated and sorted. This is carried out in preparation for subsequent recycling, incineration or landfill disposal. Industry disposes and carries out the final processing of around 90 percent of its waste at the plant where the waste is generated. This is carried out in the first instance by the major industries such as mines, paper and pulp mills, as well as by iron, steel and other metal works. Some industries incinerate their own waste. This particularly applies to the paper and pulp industry, where bark waste and sludge are incinerated. The chemicals industry incinerates certain quantities of waste in the form of solvents.

Internal landfill disposal primarily takes place within the mining industry, the paper and pulp industry and the manufacturing industry for metal and metal products. Approximately 9.4 million tonnes of waste pass through pretreatment or sorting facilities. This includes metal waste and scrap metal, paper and cardboard waste, ash, slag and other residues from incineration, plastic waste, mineral waste, hazardous oil and timber waste and mixed waste. Most of the sorted waste undergoes recycling, while a proportion is also sent for incineration and landfill.

Household waste

During 2008, households generated almost 5 million tonnes of non-hazardous waste. By far the largest component consists of what is known as household waste and other similar waste, which accounts for 2.4 million

(25)

tonnes. This waste primarily consists of ordinary household waste and bulky refuse which is delivered to recycling centres. Other major components are ordinary sludge - sludge from the treatment of municipal waste and other biological sludge products, newspapers, cardboard and corrugated card-board, biowaste sorted at source which is sent for composting or digestion, glass and metal waste. This includes both general waste, which is delivered to recycling centres, and ordinary metal packaging, as well as hard and soft plastic. Waste that is composted by households is not included. The disposal of household waste via landfill in Sweden has fallen by more than in other EU countries. Just one percent went for landfill in 2010. Instead, the waste undergoes recycling or is incinerated.

1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

Total quantity treated

Quantity of household waste processed 1998–2011 (tonnes)

0 1,000,000 2,000,000 3,000,000 4,000,000 5,000,000

Incineration with energy recovery Recycling

Landfill

Biological treatment Hazardous waste

Figure 2 . Developments in the treatment of household waste; statistics from Swedish Waste

Management.

Hazardous waste

Of the total quantity of waste generated in 2008, 2.3 million tonnes were classified as hazardous waste.

Of this waste, the industrial, service and infrastructure sectors (energy, water, waste and construction sectors) all gave rise to approximately half a million tonnes of hazardous waste. The metals and chemicals industries are the industrial sectors which generated the most hazardous waste. The struction sector accounted for 274,000 tonnes, primarily in the form of con-taminated soil and hazardous mineral waste. The energy sector's 235,000 tonnes primarily consists of fly-ash and waste from flue gas treatment in

18 Waste Ordinance (2011:927)

Hazardous waste

The definition of hazardous waste is given in Section 3 of the Waste Ordinance18. Hazardous waste is

waste that has properties such as flammability, infectiousness or toxicity to people and the environment. Hazardous waste is indicated by an asterisk (*) in the waste list in annex 4 to the Waste Ordinance. The Swedish environmental protection agency may also issue provisions accord-ing to which other waste must be deemed to be hazardous waste. This will apply if waste has any of the hazardous properties in annex 1 to the Waste ordinance and there is no suitable asterisk-marked code in the waste list.

(26)

connection with waste incineration. Households also generate large quanti-ties of hazardous waste (349,000 tonnes). Most hazardous waste generated by households consists of cars and electrical waste. Households therefore account for 15 percent of the hazardous waste. Various types of waste man-agement gave rise to approx. 150,000 tonnes of hazardous waste.

Table 2 . Hazardous waste distributed between different sectors.

Sector Hazardous waste (thousand tonnes)a

Mineral extraction 3

Other industry 665

Services 590

Energy, water and waste 235

Waste and recycling 163

agriculture and fisheries 19 Construction and engineering 274

Households 349

a The figures are in "wet weight" for the sectors which generate "wet waste".

Source: Waste in Sweden 2008, Swedish Environmental Protection agency Report 6362, 2010.

Hazardous waste is relatively evenly distributed across a number of sectors. The service sector generates a lot of hazardous waste compared with non-hazardous.

import and export of waste

A proportion of the waste that is generated in Sweden is sent to other countries for disposal. Sweden also receives waste. During 2010, 1,340,000 tonnes of waste were registered as being imported. A very high proportion of this waste was burnable waste which went for energy recovery, 1,080,000 tonnes (approximately 80 percent). This waste originated primarily from Norway. Approximately 100,000 tonnes went for metal recycling and 130,000 tonnes for other recycling. The quantity of waste registered as being exported during 2010 amounted to 470,000 tonnes. This includes fly-ash and flue gas treatment residues from waste incineration which is sent to Norway, around 20 percent. Not all types of waste that are imported into or exported from the country need to be registered with the competent authori-ties. The illegal transport of waste into and out of Sweden also occurs, but it is not clear what quantities are involved. For more information on the cross-border transport of waste, see the appendix entitled Cross-cross-border transport and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's website.

(27)

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Import/Import and Export/Export of waste (tonnes/year)

Imports 0 350,000 700,000 1,050,000 1,400,000 Exports

Figure 3 . Quantities of waste for notifiable transport into and out of Sweden.

Treatment facilities

A list of treatment facilities in Sweden is presented in the appendix entitled

Treatment facilities. The list contains 'A' and 'B' facilities, i.e. facilities that

have a permit issued by an environmental court (A) or those with a permit issued by a county administrative board (B). There are also many other smaller facilities that are notifiable to the municipality, known as 'C facili-ties'. C facilities are not included in the list, except in some cases where they were classified as either an A or a B facility prior to 2008, but reclassified as a C facility when the appendix to the Ordinance on environmentally harm-ful activity and health protection19 was revised from 1 January 2008.

From landfill to incineration surplus

For many years, Sweden has had a capacity deficit as regards alternatives to landfill disposal. When the ban on the landfill disposal of burnable waste entered into force in 2002, the problem grew and some of the waste was therefore landfilled with a special exemption from the ban. The quantities of waste involved continued to increase during this period, which further increased the need for new capacity.

In order to meet this need, treatment capacity has been considerably expanded, particularly as regards waste incineration. Capacity as regards biological treatment and recycling has also been increased. This has virtually eliminated the need to dispose of organic waste via landfill as a result of a shortage of treatment capacity.

As recycling has increased, landfill disposal and the number of landfill sites has fallen sharply. The thresholds for the concentrations of various

19 Ordinance (1998:899) on environmentally harmful activity and health

(28)

substances that the waste must fulfil in order to be disposed of via landfill above ground have meant that certain types of waste cannot be disposed of in Sweden, as they do not meet the thresholds. This primarily concerns fly-ash from waste incineration, which contains excessively high concentrations of chlorides, among other things. It is exported to Norway, where it is used as backfill material in connection with the restoration of limestone quarries. Waste quantities fell during the financial crisis and economic downturn during the period 2008-2010. The reduced quantities, combined with the substantial expansion in capacity, has resulted in a shortage of waste for the incineration plants. In some regions, this also applies to waste for digestion facilities. Despite the increasingly demanding competitive situation, there are in many cases plans to expand capacity for both incineration and anaerobic digestion. The level of interest in importing waste has increased and to some extent contributed to the capacity expansion. The Swedish waste incinera-tion facilities have been filled through an increase in imports from Norway and an increase in the use of stored waste. In 2009, approximately ten per-cent of the capacity available for the import of burnable waste from Norway was being utilised. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency believes that it is important to monitor this development and assess the consequences that this could have.

Future capacity for waste treatment

What quantities of waste will be generated 10–20 years' time ? What treatment facilities will we need then? The research programme Hållbar

avfallshantering (Sustainable waste management) has created scenarios for

quantities and treatment with various types of social development. All the scenarios indicate an increase in the quantities of waste being generated and the continuation of large quantities of waste being sent for landfilling and incineration.20, 21

The policy that the EU and Sweden are marking out will require us to reduce waste quantities through preventing the generation of waste. The waste that is generated despite such measures must be managed in accord-ance with the waste hierarchy, i.e. first through preparing for reuse, followed by recycling, other recovery and finally disposal. If Sweden is to succeed in implementing this policy, we therefore believe that the capacity available for the anaerobic digestion of organic waste and recycling of various kinds must increase considerably over the next 10-20 years, whilst the need for incinera-tion capacity for Swedish waste will not increase compared with the current level. This conclusion is also supported by the various scenarios in the Sustainable Waste Management study which indicate the lowest increases in waste quantities.22

The waste prevention initiatives will also result in smaller quantities of hazardous substances in products and materials. Even if we succeed in

20 Östblom G, Ljunggren Söderman M and Sjöström M (2010) 21 Ljunggren Söderman M (2011)

(29)

eliminating the most hazardous substances from all new products, they will remain in society for many years to come. We therefore believe that for the foreseeable future there will be a need to remove such substances from the cycle, through landfill disposal or incineration.

The principles of self-sufficiency and proximity

The Waste Directive establishes the principles of self-sufficiency and prox-imity. These principles primarily mean that within the EU there must be a network of facilities for the disposal (landfill or destruction through incinera-tion) of waste and the recycling of household waste which makes it possible to process the waste within the European Union. This network must make it possible to process waste at one of the nearest facilities which has a suitable method for the waste concerned.

Like all transport, the long-distance transport of waste has an adverse impact on the environment. This adverse impact should be set against the benefits or disadvantages for the environment associated with differences in treatment processes at the various facilities. For certain types of waste, there are only a few treatment facilities in Europe. The free mobility of goods and services, the rules concerning public procurement and rules concerning the import and export of waste are other factors which also impact on the choice of treatment facility.

Objectives and clarifications concerning the waste field

The environmental quality objectives describe the state of the Swedish envi-ronment that all activities should strive to achieve. The objectives must be achieved within one generation, i.e. by 2020 (2050 as regards the climate objective). Previous secondary objectives have been replaced by interim objec-tives, which set out steps on the road to achieving the environmental quality objectives and the generation objective. The government takes decisions concerning interim objectives. The clarifications must clarify what the objec-tives mean and are also used in the monitoring of the objecobjec-tives. The idea behind the environmental quality objectives is that they will be monitored on an ongoing basis with the submission of an annual report to the government and an in-depth evaluation once per mandate period. Different authorities have a responsibility to monitor and evaluate various environmental quality objectives. In partnership with all the authorities which have responsibilities within the environmental objective system, the Swedish Environmental Pro-tection Agency annually prepares a combined report for the government. The monitoring carried out for each environmental quality objective is presented on the environmental objective portal.

Orientation for the generation objective

The national generation objective states that the overarching goal of the en-vironmental policy is "to hand over to the next generation a society in which

the major environmental problems have been overcome, without causing in-creased environmental and health problems outside the borders of Sweden ".

(30)

be met within one generation and that environmental policy must be ori-ented towards the following states:

❚ ecosystems have recovered, or are on the way to recovering, and their ability to generate ecosystem services in the long-term has been safe-guarded;

❚ biological diversity and the natural and cultural environment is conserved, promoted and utilised sustainably;

❚ human health is exposed to minimal adverse environmental impact, while the positive impact of the environment on human health is promoted; ❚ the cycle is resource-efficient and free from hazardous substances insofar

as is possible,

❚ natural resources are conserved appropriately;

❚ the proportion of renewable energy is increasing and energy use is ef-ficient with minimal impact on the environment;

❚ the consumption of goods and services causes the least possible problems for the environment and human health.

The environmental quality objectives and waste management

Many of the points above directly impact on the work relating to resource efficiency, waste management and hazardous substances. The environmental impact of waste also affects many of the national environmental quality objectives. Waste management is of greatest importance for the objec-tives Limited climatic impact, A toxin-free environment and A good built

environment.

Limited climatic impact

The interim objective for limited climate impact states that, by the year 2020, emissions of greenhouse gases in Sweden from undertakings outside the system for the trading of emission rights must decrease by 40 percent compared with 1990.

Estimates indicate that waste management accounts for approximately eight percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in Sweden.23 The majority of

these emissions consist of methane gas from the landfill disposal of degrada-ble waste, but the incineration of plastic, the transport of waste and biologi-cal treatment of waste also contribute to the emissions.

Current waste management has also meant that total emissions of green-house gases have decreased. Through the increase in recycling, we have been able to replace the new production of various materials such as metals and plastic. In this way, greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced and resources have been conserved. The incineration of waste can also replace fossil fuels, which also reduces emissions of greenhouse gases.

(31)

a good built environment

The objective for 'A good built environment' is that cities, urban areas and other built environments must constitute a good and healthy living environ-ment and contribute to a good regional and global environenviron-ment. Natural and cultural values must be protected and developed. Buildings and facilities must be located and designed in an environmentally friendly way which promotes the appropriate management of land, water and other resources in the long term.

According to one of the clarifications, the objective is intended to ensure that: ❚ waste management is effective for society, simple to use for consumers

and prevents waste, and at the same time conserves the resources in waste that is generated insofar as is possible and minimises the impact of the waste on and risks concerning health and the environment.

a toxin-free environment

The objective for 'A toxin-free environment' is for the occurrence of sub-stances in the environment that have been created or extracted by society not to threaten human health or biological diversity. Concentrations of anthropogenic substances are close to zero and their impact on human health and ecosystems is negligible. Concentrations of naturally occurring substances are close to background levels.

The work to achieve the objectives under 'A toxin-free environment' has a major impact on waste management. Concentrations of hazardous substances in waste complicates the handling, processing and recycling of waste today.

The impact of waste management on the scope to achieve 'A toxin-free environment' is difficult to assess and quantify, as the waste contains a considerable quantity of hazardous substances which can be dispersed into the environment in different ways. Discharges may also occur in connection with the handling of waste, e.g. through flue gases in connection with waste incineration or through leachates from landfill sites. Hazardous substances may also be spread in the natural cycle when they are present in small quan-tities in waste that undergoes recovery. Discharges can also occur in connec-tion with accidents, illegal dumping or other incorrect handling of waste.

Estimates indicate that discharges of lead, cadmium and mercury from waste management account for approximately 20 percent of all discharges of these substances into the atmosphere and aquatic environment in Swe-den.24 A high proportion of these discharges originates from the landfill

disposal of mining waste.

interim objectives

The government has established interim objectives which can govern and set out clear steps on the way to the societal changes that are necessary in order to achieve the environmental quality objectives and the generation objective. The following interim objectives are included as objectives in the plan:

(32)

Greater resource efficiency in the food-chain

The interim objective concerning greater resource efficiency in the food-chain means that by 2018 at least 50 percent of food waste from house-holds, institutional kitchens, shops and restaurants must be sorted and treated biologically so that plant nutrients are utilised, with at least 40 percent being treated so that the energy is also utilised.

Greater resource efficiency within the construction sector

The interim objective concerning building and demolition waste means that by 2020 preparation for reuse, recycling and other material utilisation of non-hazardous building and demolition waste must be at least 70 percent by weight. This objective is the same as that in the Waste Directive; see below under Other objectives.

Other objectives

During 2009, the national objectives25 for recycling and material utilisation

for news and pams (graphic papers)26 and almost all packaging types were

achieved.27 The exception was plastic, where recycling was slightly below the

objective. The recycling objective for end-of-life vehicles was also achieved.28

For electrical waste, collection amounted to 16.5 kg per Swede, which is well above the EU requirement of 4 kg per person.29

Objectives have also been established concerning the reuse and recycling of household waste and building and demolition waste in the Waste Direc-tive30, which must be achieved by 2020. As regards household waste, the

Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's assessment is that we will achieve the objective. However, this will be difficult in the case of building and demolition waste. See also under the respective sections concerning

Building and demolition waste and Household waste - recycling and collec-tion.

The objective in the Landfill Directive31 to reduce the amount of

biode-gradable waste which goes to landfill has been achieved by a good margin.

25 Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (2012). Report 6482. 26 Ordinance (1994:1205) on producer responsibility for news and pams

(graphic papers).

27 Ordinance (2006:1273) on producer responsibility for packaging. 28 Directive 2000/53/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of

18 September 2000 on end-of-life vehicles.

29 Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of

27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

30 Directive on waste (2008/98/EC).

(33)

Environmental impact of waste management

and treatment

Waste incineration

Measured emissions of dioxins from waste incineration have remained within the range 0.5–2.6 grams per year over the past ten years,32 which

rep-resents a relatively small proportion of total dioxin emissions in the country. However, there is uncertainty concerning the actual atmospheric emissions of dioxins, because emissions are normally only measured twice a year.

A high proportion of dioxins from the incineration of waste ends up in fly-ash which is disposed of as hazardous waste where the risk of leaching is considered to be low. In spite of this, it would be positive if dioxin concen-trations in ash could be reduced further. In addition to fly-ash, residues of less contaminated slag/bottom ash remain after incineration.

Fires at waste storage sites

Atmospheric emissions from fires at waste storage sites may represent an important source of emissions. Fires occur at waste storage sites every year. Our knowledge of the magnitude of emissions from these fires is very inad-equate, but as regards dioxins for example it may concern 3–8 grams per year,33 which is greater than the combined emissions from all waste

incinera-tion in Sweden.

landfills

Landfills concentrate large quantities of pollutants and environmental toxins in a limited area. Over time, these substances are leached out into the sur-rounding environment, causing a risk to human health and the environment through the pollution of land and water. Emissions of methane from organic waste from landfills still account for the majority of greenhouse gas emis-sions from waste management. The leaching of heavy metals from mining dumps also accounts for a substantial proportion of total discharges of heavy metals into the aquatic environment from waste management.34

The magnitude of the environmental and health-related effects of a landfill will depend on its location, the safety measures that are put in place and the properties of the waste. At older landfills, large quantities of toxic substances can often be found which are treated much more cautiously today than was previously the case, e.g. heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium.

Recycling

Waste for recycling may also contain substances and materials which can pose health and environmental risks if the waste is disposed of incorrectly. In the case of recycling, the waste is often processed in several stages, e.g.

32 Swedish Waste Management (2010) Svensk Avfallshantering 2010

(Swed-ish Waste Management 2010).

33 Sundqvist J-O (2010) 34 Sundqvist J-O (2010)

(34)

through separation, fine-distribution, heating and other techniques. Hazard-ous substances present in the waste (e.g. electrical waste) can be released during processing and cause health risks in the working environment for those working at the recycling facilities and also result in the dispersal of hazardous substances into the environment. Emissions of heavy metals account for a high proportion of the total heavy metal discharges into the atmosphere from waste management.35

biological treatment

The environmental problems caused by biological treatment are atmospheric emissions of methane, nitrous oxide and ammonia and leachate discharges. There are also problems associated with odour. Methane emissions from biogas plants are normally small.36

Transport of waste within Sweden

Collection and transport are believed to account for around 8 percent of all emissions of greenhouse gases from the actual waste management process.37

The dominant waste types are paper, metal and household waste which is collected at many sites in relatively small quantities at each location.

management of hazardous waste

In 2007, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency carried out a survey of the management and inspection of hazardous waste.38 One conclusion

from this survey was that most hazardous waste ends up where it should. Other conclusions were that the inspection authorities believe that under-takings are largely aware that their hazardous waste is disposed off by an approved recipient and that the inspection authorities also believe that non-conformities such as dumping or tipping are relatively uncommon.

Although waste management is largely effective, there are deficiencies which need to be rectified in order to prevent people and the environment from being exposed to the hazardous substances that can be found in the waste. One example is that households could be better at sorting their haz-ardous waste. There are calculations which indicate that between 4,000 and 6,000 tonnes of hazardous waste are disposed of via household refuse every year.39

There are also deficiencies in the management of hazardous waste by businesses, particularly in the case of smaller enterprises. The handling of end-of-life vehicles could be improved. The inspection authorities have re-ported that dismantling is not always carried out correctly. This could result in hazardous substances being dispersed in the environment and hamper recycling.

35 Sundqvist J-O and Palm D (2010) 36 Sundqvist J-O and Palm D (2010)

37 Sundqvist J-O (2011). Verbal communication.

38 Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (2007). Report 5722. 39 Swedish Waste Management (2005). Report 2005:05.

(35)

Instruments within the field of waste

The Environmental Code's portal section and general rules of consideration form the basis for application of the EU's waste hierarchy. The waste policy and the existing instruments within the field of waste have effectively steered

disposal away from landfill disposal towards greater energy recovery and

re-cycling. Future instruments need to do more to guide waste disposal towards the other areas of the hierarchy, towards the prevention of waste.

Instruments to promote recycling in Swedish waste legislation primarily consist of bans and taxes which discourage landfill disposal. The producer responsibility promotes sorting, collection and recycling of certain waste flows. There are also requirements concerning the sorting of burnable waste which promote energy recovery. In addition to the legislation, there are also political objectives which promote the biological treatment of food waste. Economic instruments in the form of government investment grants have also been a driving force.

Together with the expansion of district heating, the tax on the landfill disposal of waste and the landfill ban have resulted in a reduction in landfill disposal and an increase in energy recovery from waste. Since 2010, the capacity available for the incineration of waste in Sweden has exceeded the quantities of waste that are available. This situation has led to lower gate fees being levied by the incineration plants. It has therefore become relatively cheap to incinerate waste compared with processing through recycling.

The producer responsibility has contributed to a high proportion of pack-aging waste undergoing recycling. Vehicles, tyres, electrical waste and batter-ies are also collected via separate systems for recycling and safe disposal. A further aim of the producer responsibility is to reduce the amount of waste, but the effects of this are difficult to measure and the legislation has so far had a limited effect in this regard. It is also unclear as to how the producer responsibility has encouraged producers to design products in a way which makes them easier to recover materials from.

The effects of the landfill tax are not unequivocally positive. Taxable landfill has undoubtedly reduced markedly, but it is uncertain how much virgin material has actually been replaced through the recovery of materials. The landfill tax promotes the recovery of waste. In some cases, it is also not clear whether the landfill tax is promoting waste management which is best from an environmental perspective. When waste is used in new ways, considerable demands are placed on the resources of the inspection authori-ties to ensure that the use is appropriate from a resource perspective. Use of the waste could for example involve a risk of hazardous substances being dispersed.

Research into instruments within the field of waste is also under way both globally and in Sweden. The research programme Sustainable Waste

Management has collated experiences from many instruments.40 Sustainable

Waste Management is financed by the Swedish Environmental Protection

40 Bisaillo M, Finnveden , Noring M, Stenmarck Å, Sundberg J, Sundqvist

(36)

Agency and will be concluded during 2012. The programme is expected to result in the submission of proposals for new instruments, among other things.

(37)

3. Towards greater

resource efficiency

(38)

SWEDEn'S WASTE mAnAgEmEnT FuncTiOnS relatively well. Major improvements

have been made in recent decades and Sweden is one of the leading countries in the EU as regards material and energy recovery. The next challenge is to promote a more resource-efficient society. Many initiatives are under way within the EU to promote the more sustainable use of our resources and to reduce the use and dispersal of hazardous substances.

The work to prevent waste is an important example which has clear links to the work relating to resource efficiency, sustainable consumption and production and also to chemical and product legislation. There are also obvious links with other work and other legislation, e.g. the EU's Seventh Environmental Action Programme and the Ecodesign Directive.41

In this chapter, we present some general examples of what needs to be done in order to achieve greater resource efficiency. Chapter 4 contains a number of measures to improve resource efficiency in various waste flows, e.g. increased reuse and recycling. We will continue the work to draw up proposals for specific objectives, measures and instruments within the frame-work of the waste prevention programme, which will be reported to the EU by December 2013.

The EU's waste hierarchy – a starting point

The preamble to the EU's Waste Directive states that waste policy should aim to reduce the use of resources and favour the practical application of the waste hierarchy.

Resource efficiency is partly about utilising the ecosystem services as appropriately and efficiently as possible so that societal benefits increase without a corresponding increase in environmental impacts. Working in accordance with the EU's waste hierarchy42 is one way of achieving greater

resource efficiency.

The five steps of the waste hierarchy: ❚ Prevention

❚ Preparing for reuse ❚ Recycling

❚ Other recovery, e.g. energy recovery ❚ Disposal, e.g. landfill

The EU's Waste Directive states that the waste hierarchy is to apply as a pri-oritisation scheme for legislation and policies concerning the prevention and

41 Ecodesign Directive (2005/32/EC).

42 Article 4 of Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the

(39)

management of waste. There must therefore be rules and instruments which govern waste management in accordance with the hierarchy.

The Directive also states that when the waste hierarchy is applied, Mem-ber States must implement measures to promote the alternatives that give the best results for the environment as a whole and that it may be necessary to deviate from such a hierarchy with regard to specific waste flows where appropriate due to technical feasibility, economic vitality and environmental protection, for example.

Disposal, e.g. landfill Other use, e.g. energy Recycling Preparation for reuse Prevention

Figure 4 . The five steps of the waste hierarchy:

In general, resource efficiency increases, the higher up in the hierarchy you go. According to the hierarchy, waste must be prevented in the first instance. If this is not possible, the waste must be prepared for reuse, recycling or energy recovery. As a last resort, it should be disposed of at a landfill.

The requirements of the Waste Directive concerning national programmes for the prevention of waste is one way of further emphasising the waste hi-erarchy. The Directive also contains express requirements on Member States to promote reuse and recycling.

The waste hierarchy and the Environmental Code

The government bill for the Environmental Code already contained text cor-responding to that of the EU's waste hierarchy:

"In the choice between reuse, recycling, energy recovery and disposal, the method that gives the best results from a resource efficiency perspective without overlooking other important environmental considerations should be prioritised. In most cases, this will mean that reuse is chosen before recy-cling and that energy recovery should only be used thereafter, which in turn should normally be preferable to disposal."

As described above in the section entitled "Instruments within the field of waste", there is strong support in the Environmental Code for work to promote resource efficiency. Some examples of how the rules in the Environ-mental Code can be used to prevent waste are given below:

In connection with the assessment of permits and inspections, munici-palities and county administrative boards must apply the general rules of consideration in Chapter 2 of the Environmental Code. Chapter 2 Section 5 of the Environmental Code states that "anyone who carries on an activity or takes measures must conserve raw materials and energy and utilise the

Figure

Table 1 . Proportion of households (percentage) which are satisfied or very satisfied
Figure 1 . an overview of waste flows in Sweden (million tonnes). From Waste in Sweden 2008
Figure 2 . Developments in the treatment of household waste; statistics from Swedish Waste
Table 2 . Hazardous waste distributed between different sectors.
+7

References

Related documents

The purposes of the paper are to analyze whether moral motives matter for: a the assessment of households' waste sorting costs; and b for the efficiency of introducing

As mentioned, this column is known as eigenvector in mathematics, but it is called Relative Value Vector (RVV) or priority vector in AHP, when the criteria are compared

Thus, if we explain the continued importance of surveillance for the western state with a fun- damental power rationality, does this mean that it would be impossible to consider

Egna kommentarer: Här får eleverna både läsa och själva få någonting uppläst för dem vilket kan kopplas till den analytiska metoden eftersom det sker i interaktion med

Ty även om man radikalt redu­ cerar diktens inslag av referens till »verkligheten», dess egenskap av kanal för åsikter och syften, kvarstår ju ändå

Här kunde presente­ rats och refererats sådana bidrag till diskussionen som Raymond Williams koncisa inledande metod­ kapitel i Drama in Performance (liksom analyserna

The difficulties in preventing waste from occur- ring within industry are due to a great extent to the fact that today’s waste market and waste system have been built up according

Components commonly suggested as primary categories in the reviewed methods were: biodegradable waste, paper, plastics, glass, metals, wood, textiles, hazardous waste, other