Less to the landfills -SEPA
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The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency:
50% LESS TO THE LANDFILLS WITHIN TEN YEARS
The amount of waste that ends up in our landfills can be
reduced by at least half, according to the Swedish
Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) in its Action Plan for
Waste Management for the coming decade. In a proposal
submitted to the Swedish Government, the Environmental
Protection Agency suggests that Sweden introduce:
- compulsory separation of the waste at the source from the
year 2000.
- the possibility for the Environmental Protection Agency and
other authorities to adopt regulations on treatment of
different kinds of waste
- a ban on landfilling of kitchen refuse, yard waste and other
organic waste after 2005.
- more stringent environmental requirements for our landfills.
Other proposals include compulsory permits for all waste
transports. In its action plan, SEPA also confirms the need
for the waste tax on all waste to landfills previously
announced by the Swedish government. The cost of depositing
waste in a landfill will be raised by 60-120%, which will
bring this cost into line with other waste treatment methods,
such as composting or production of decomposition gas.
"It has been our intention, in submitting this action plan to
the government, to make it possible both to reduce quantities
of waste and to remove hazardous substances from the waste. It
will also lead to a
safer management of the waste fractions that will inevitably
still be. It is a matter both of reducing resource consumption
and keeping our landfills from becoming the environmental time
bombs of the future," says Eva Smith, director of the Industry
and Ecocycles Department, SEPA.
In its Action Plan for Waste Management, SEPA sets out some
deadlines for waste management during the decade covered,
including:
- The quantities of household waste that end up in landfills
are to have been cut back by 50% by the year 2000, and by 70%
by 2005, in comparison with the 1994 levels. The total amount
of waste will only be negligibly reduced, but increasing
amounts will go to recycling, incineration, composting or
decomposition.
- By the year 2000, the quantities of office, commercial,
construction and demolition waste are to have been reduced by
half, as are the equivalent quantities of industrial waste.
Recycling and incineration are expected to be more than
double, in comparison with the 1994 levels.
- By the year 2005, the fraction of production waste that goes
to landfilling is also to have been reduced by 50%.
In a special report: Maal foer saerskilda avfallsslag :
aktionsplan avfall ("Objectives for special types of waste")
(report 4602), SEPA has set out objectives for individual
branches of industry. According to SEPA, the production waste
fraction is also to have been cut back by an average of 10%
(calculated per produced commodity) by the year 2010.
Three kinds of waste
All waste is to be sorted into three main groups: waste that
constitutes an environmental or health hazard, waste that can
be returned to a market, and waste for treatment. Thus
hazardous waste is to be sent to special hazardous waste
collection sites, and recyclable waste to recycling centres,
while the treatment fraction is to be sorted into food and
other organic waste, waste to be incinerated, and waste
requiring landfilling.
To increase public interest in recycling, an extended producer
responsibility system has been introduced for more and more
categories of waste in recent years. Today, for example, we
have producer responsibility for packaging materials, tyres,
and used newsprint. This means that the manufacturer, importer
or seller of such goods is also responsible for dealing with
them as waste. Swedish legislation today also requires local
governments to take responsibility for sanitation and for
collection and handling of household waste. Local governments
may also voluntarily take responsibility for some industrial
waste.
To co-ordinate producers collection and municipal waste
management, SEPA is proposing that there be compulsory
consultation between the waste collection companies used by
producers and the local governments. SEPA is also proposing
that restrictions be imposed regarding what kinds of
industrial waste municipalities still be allowed to take
responsibility for, in pace with the introduction of producer
responsibility for more and more types of waste.
The Action Plan for Waste Management covers consumer waste
(from households, parks and gardens, construction sites and
company waste in the form of packaging, pallets, etc.) and
industrial waste from production processes. Waste from
agriculture and forestry are not covered by the Action Plan.
For information please contact:
Taina Baeckstroem, Project Director, tel: +46 8 698 1159,
e-mail: Taina.Backstrom@environ.se
Bjorn Sodermark, Head of Section, tel: +46 8 698 1141
e-mail: Bjorn.Sodermark@environ.se
Tor Borinder, industrial waste, tel: +46 8 698 1181
e-mail: tor.borinder@environ.se
Press Service:
Katrin Hallman, tel: +46 8 698 1544,
e-mail: Katrin.Hallman@environ.se
Anna Bonta-Anger, tel: +46 8 698 1084,
e-mail: Anna.Bonta-Anger@environ.se
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Arne Sjoeqvist
INFOTERRA/Sweden
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
S-106 48 STOCKHOLM
ars@environ.se Tel:+46 8 6981273 Fax: +46 8 6981400
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