介绍:
Sweden has imported rubbish from other countries for several years. Less than 1% of Swedish household waste was sent to landfill last year.
Why does Sweden import rubbish from other countries? Their system is so far ahead because of a culture of looking after the environment. Sweden was one of the first countries to implement a heavy tax on fossil fuels in 1991 and now it generates almost half its electricity from renewables.
“Swedish people are quite keen on being out in nature and they are aware of what they need to do on nature and environmental issues. We worked on communications for a long time to make people aware not to throw rubbish outdoors so that we can recycle and reuse them,” said Anna-Carin Gripwall, director of the Swedish Waste Management’s recycling association.
Over time, Sweden has implemented a national recycling policy so that even though private companies undertake most of the business of importing and burning waste. The energy goes into a national heating network to heat homes through the freezing winter.
Ms Gripwall says that the aim in Sweden is still to encourage people sending waste to recycling in the first place. She describes Sweden’s policy of importing waste to recycle from other countries as a temporary situation.
“Hopefully, there will be less waste and the waste that has to go to incineration should be incinerated in each country. But to use recycling for heating, you have to have district heating or cooling systems, so you have to build the infrastructure for that, and that takes time,” said Ms Gripwall.
Swedish are investing in waste collection techniques, like automated vacuum systems in residential blocks, removing the need for collection transport, and underground container systems that free up road space and get rid of any smells.
