It sounds like the start of a bad late-night joke. 鈥淪weden鈥檚 recycling is so good鈥︹�� 鈥淗ow good is it?鈥� But the answer remains impressive rather than humorous. The Swedish recycling program reported it recycles more than 99 percent of all household waste 鈥渋n one way or another.鈥� According to officials, the country went through a 鈥渞ecycling revolution鈥� in just four decades:
鈥淭oday, recycling stations are as a rule no more than 300 metres from any residential area. Most Swedes separate all recyclable waste in their homes and deposit it in special containers in their block of flats or drop it off at a recycling station. Few other nations deposit less in rubbish dumps.鈥�
In 1991, Sweden became one of the first nations to implement a heavy tax on fossil fuels. Anna-Carin Gripwall, director of communications for the Swedish Waste Management associate Avfall Sverige said it became a natural process for most.
鈥淪wedish people are quite keen on being out in nature and they are aware of what we need do on nature and environmental issues,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e worked on communications for a long time to make people aware not to throw things outdoors so that we can recycle and reuse.鈥�
However, reports have been debated within the last few months as to how accurate the 99 percent quote remains. In the States and other countries, 鈥渞ecycling鈥� means 鈥渦sing waste as material to manufacture a new product.鈥� The debris鈥� physical forms get altered and shaped into the new object.
In Sweden, however, the definition differs greatly. Recycling includes burning about 50 percent of waste to make heat and energy. In the US, that process gets classified under 鈥渢ransformation鈥� 鈥� incineration, distillation or biological change outside of composting.
Regardless, the burned energy goes through a national heating network to combat harsh Swedish winters.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a key reason that we have this district network, so we can make use of the heating from the waste plants,鈥� Gripwall said in an interview with the Independent. 鈥淚n the southern part of Europe they don鈥檛 make use of the heating from the waste, it just goes out the chimney. Here we use it as a substitute for fossil fuel.鈥�
Proponents of a more traditional definition of recycling say the country wastes valuable natural resources by burning them. Wood fiber can be recycled up to six times before becoming unusable.
CEO of Avfall Sverige Weine Wiqvist agreed that the country can do more. In fact, he鈥檇 rather the country reduce waste entirely or focus on reusing the material:
鈥淲e are trying to 鈥榤ove up the refuse ladder,鈥� as we say, from burning to material recycling, by promoting recycling and working with authorities.鈥�
Sweden鈥檚 reported success rate even brings in 700,000 tonnes of imported waste from other countries. (For reference, that鈥檚 like Sweden importing and recycling nearly 100 Christ the Redeemer statues.) The import rate comes as a result from a landfill ban in EU countries. Rather than paying the fine and recycling the waste in its home countries, people simply ship it to Sweden. However, even recycling officials recognize this only puts a bandaid on the issue rather than working toward a solution.
鈥淭hey should and will build their own plants, to reduce their own waste, as we are working hard to do in Sweden,鈥� Gripwall said.
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