Sweden importing garbage for energy

Sweden is taking waste management to a whole new level, recycling and sorting its waste so efficiently that less than 1% ends up in landfills. Furthermore, the country burns about as much household waste as it recycles - over 2 million tonnes - and converts this to energy.

In fact, Sweden’s 32 waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration plants can handle even more waste than is produced domestically. So when it runs out of its own garbage, it offers a service to the rest of Europe: importing excess waste from other countries.

“We import approximately 800,000 tonnes yearly, and we sell a service,” said Anna-Carin Gripwall from Swedish Waste Management. “It’s mainly from Norway, the UK, Ireland and Italy.”

WTE provides district heating to 950,000 Swedish households and electricity for 260,000 households. In Helsingborg, in the south of Sweden, about 40% of households get their district heating from garbage incinerated at the new Filborna plant run by Öresundskraft.

Göran Skoglund of Öresundskraft stands beside imported British waste, ready to be incinerated for energy at the Filborna plant, Helsingborg. Image courtesy of Sweden Sverige under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

“Three tonnes of waste contains as much energy as one tonne of fuel oil … so there is a lot of energy in waste,” said Öresundskraft Press Officer Göran Skoglund.

In some parts of the world, the incineration of waste is seen to have negative environmental impacts, but Gripwall rejects this idea.

“When waste sits in landfills, leaking methane gas and other greenhouse gases, it is obviously not good for the environment,” she said. “Waste-to-energy is a smart alternative, with less environmental impact, taking into account both by-products of incineration and emissions from transport. Plus, recovering energy from waste exploits a resource that would otherwise be wasted.

“At the same time, it is important that waste has been source separated before it can be considered for energy recovery,” added Skoglund. “Metals have been sorted out, glass has been sorted out, as well as foodstuffs. It also must not contain hazardous waste such as batteries, light bulbs or other electrical waste. Nor should it contain packaging or newspapers. These should be sorted out and left for material recycling … before it can be used for energy.”

The control room at Filborna waste-to-energy plant, Helsingborg, Sweden. Image courtesy of Sweden Sverige under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Until other countries are able to adopt better recycling practices and infrastructure, Sweden can help do its part by making use of other countries’ waste.

“The world has a garbage problem, there is no doubt about that,” said Skoglund, “but in the meantime, waste incineration and extracting energy from the waste is a good solution.”