Waste - National Responses (Sweden)

e) Which responses (R) have been put in place or are planned at national level for the theme in question?

What is done?

A number of instruments have been introduced in order to increase recycling of waste. Among them are:

• Environmental Quality Objectives adopted by the Swedish Parliament, with interim targets for waste (generation) and resource management (e.g. extraction of natural gravel).
• Deposit-refund systems for beverage containers.
• Producer responsibility for batteries, packaging, paper/newsprint, tyres, cars/ELV, WEEE, light bulbs and certain light fittings.
• Voluntary commitments from producers' organisations to collect and recycle office paper and farm plastics.
• Differentiated fees for municipal waste collection (to stimulate source separation).
• Compulsory sorting of waste: combustible waste should be kept and transported separately; packaging waste and WEEE should be sorted out/handled separately by the consumers and delivered to the collection systems provided by the producers. Municipalities can stipulate further sorting.
• Landfill tax.
• Tax on household waste to incineration.
• Landfill bans for combustible and organic waste.
• Subsidies for biogas plants and GHG reduction.
• Every municipality must develop municipal/regional waste management plans, including all waste streams and measures for waste prevention.

Waste prevention programme

Waste prevention efforts have recently been initiated on a national level. During 2010, the Swedish EPA will make a pre-study to identify

• the waste stream with the largest environmental impact, regarding climate and content of hazardous substances
• the most important actors for communication
• suitable national targets for waste prevention.

The results of that study will be a foundation for the coming waste prevention programme. The programme will be prepared in cooperation with stakeholders and with knowledge from the Swedish waste research programme ‘Towards a sustainable waste management'. 

National waste management plan

The Swedish EPA is working on a new national waste management plan, which is expected to be finalised in 2011. The new plan will, to a larger extent than the former one, focus on waste from economic activities, such as construction and demolition waste. Furthermore, priority will be given to measures for prevention of waste.

A crucial part of this work will be to involve relevant stakeholders and authorities in order to find the best acceptable measures.