What is the one country in the world actually imports garbage from its neighbors? Sweden. Why? Because its waste management system is so efficient that less than 5 percent of the nation's waste enters landfills. Less than 1 percent of household waste reaches landfills.
Around half of the 4.4 million tons of waste generated each year is recycled, while half is used for generating power via the waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration system. America, by contrast, recycles just over 34 percent of the waste generated.
Power from the incinerators heats up homes and provides electricity to households across the nation. To be precise, Sweden uses waste for heating 810,000 homes and provides electricity for 250,000 homes. Waste constitutes 20 percent of the fuel used by the network of district heating plants in the country.
Sweden gets paid by countries like Norway and Great Britain to import their garbage. In 2014, Sweden imported around 800,000 tons of garbage to feed its energy-producing incinerators. Data suggests that by 2020, Sweden will be importing 2.3 million tons of garbage.
Sweden has been able to achieve this staggering success in waste recycling even as waste generated across the nation continues to grow. For example, heavy metal emissions in Sweden today are 99 percent lower than what they were in 1985, while waste generation has increased three-fold since then.
How does the system work? The country's 9.5 million residents play an active role in the process.
Recyclable waste is segregated at home before disposal. Organic waste cannot be diverted to landfills. Households are supposed to take metal, glass, plastic, paper and such materials to local recycling stations. Stockholm, in fact, has a system of tubes that connect trashcans to recycling centers.
Hazardous waste and electronic waste are meant to be deposited at designated municipal collection points. These find their way into incinerators. Residue from the burning process is recycled and reused to the extent possible. Slag gravel, for instance, is used in road construction, and residue with alkaline properties is used to neutralize acidic waste.
Colorful containers for waste sorting in Malmo, Sweden.
Interestingly, Sweden is working hard at increasing the rate of garbage recycled as compared to trash that is burned. The rationale is that it takes more energy to create something from scratch and recycling saves energy. Ironically, a focus on recycling limits the amount of waste available for burning in the incinerators.
Another big part of Sweden's success is that its energy distribution system lends itself nicely to the WTE process. Countries still dependent on fossil fuel for energy find setting up such a network to be cost prohibitive.
Sweden has made a choice, by aggressively pursuing a waste recycling policy. The country has addressed environmental concerns about chemicals leeching into the soil and water from landfills, and methane and greenhouse emissions affecting air quality. Every ton of garbage that does not enter landfills prevents around 1,100 pounds of carbon emissions from entering the environment.
Sweden's approach to waste management — which eschews landfills in favor of recycling and energy production — has been the subject of many studies and can be a model solution as we run out of land in which to dump trash.
