PRI: Public Radio International

Sweden imports waste from European neighbors to fuel waste-to-energy program

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 11:03:00 -0500

Sweden's successful waste-to-energy program converts household waste into energy for heating and electricity. But they've run into an unusual problem: they simply aren't generating enough trash to power the incinerators, so they've begun importing waste from European neighbors.

Peter Hunt

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 03:28:13 -0500

In my opinion, it is the best use of waste material. It will be helpful to reduce the problem of energy crisis and requirement of landfills, as well as, it will be helpful to handle the problem of waste material.

bdbd

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 10:03:53 -0500

When will Sweden achieve trash independence?

Adriana

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 12:30:58 -0500

Cool

Neil

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 13:11:39 -0500

This is a terrible idea! Incinerators produce a huge range of toxic pollutants -- dioxins, heavy metals, nanoparticles, etc. Sweden over-invested in incineration and is now polluting the environment with other countries' garbage. They would all be much better off with more recycling and composting.

Sofie Pelsmakers

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 04:51:59 -0500

On the one hand this is good news on low waste being produced in Sweden and shows other countries can do it to. On the other hand, importing waste has environmental consequences in transportation plus may not incentivise other countries to reduce their waste. Secondly, the fact Sweden is short of waste ( a lot of waste is needed to generate the heat required) would suggest it may be wiser to look at further reducing demand for heat as well as different ways of producing heat efficiently. It does make me wonder how an energy generation policy based on waste, without forecasting the effect of waste reduction policies still lead to the reliance on waste as a way to generate heat and build these power stations; though I don't know the timescales and age of the power stations so maybe it could not be predicted? I'd agree this is only a very short-term solution,...

Bob Irving

Fri, 14 Sep 2012 04:47:03 -0500

We will probably reach the same state in the UK over the next few years as we are currently building incinerators based on current waste levels and prices. Worse still, we will make little or no use of the heat from these incinerators as they are built too far from housing and we lack the heat distribution systems to use it.

Viktor Svahn

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 08:44:56 -0500

@Sofie
Since Sweden is located north they really make use of that heat in the winter. And their winter is about 6-7 months long. Most of he population only have about 21 degrees centigrate in their homes (70 degrees fahrenheit).

Atleast considering that the winters in the middle of sweden can get as cold as -30 degrees centigrate (31 degrees fahrenheit), a lot of energy is required during the roughest 3 months (December, january and february). Though its usually around -10 to -15 degrees.

With that in mind I think they are quite energy efficient. But there is always room for improvement as you say. One should'nt ever be satisfied with things like this!

FCQGED

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 12:45:07 -0500

There is nothing environmental in this process. It only encourages waste production instead of waste reduction. Also, it creates very harmful pollutants (POPs) for mammals, including men and women. We are fighting this temptation here in Quebec as it is only driven by economical interest. Be careful when you hear expression like 'green energy" or "wastes valorisation"

Christoffre

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 07:44:17 -0500

The toxins would still be in the garbage, even if it wasn't burnt. Also, there are filters that catch the toxins that are released via the smoke.

LarrySDonald

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 14:18:52 -0500

@Sofie As mentioned it's extremely cold for much of the year. Most houses are insulated very well and heat is guarded very well (it's expensive). Reducing need is almost impossible - there may be a tiny bit here and there to save but nothing large scale is around that hasn't already been done beyond leaving the area. Cities with centralized heat (as mentioned in the article) can throw almost any waste heat from anywhere into the system as well as burn only the most efficient large-scale way possible when needed. Sure, they overscaled the waste to heat some, but the other option is to burn more of something that wasn't waste. There's nearly always a deficit of heat just to start with and always will be, there's just no way to generate that amount of energy without dedicated and not very friendly solutions so it becomes more of a game of making sure as much as possible of the heat at least comes from pre-used fuel or pre-used heat. If that becomes impossible, fall back to biofuel, unusable hydro during nights, etc. If *that* fails, well, bite the bullet and burn some oil/gas. Yes, it's short term in a sense, but so is every solution - it's a constant digging for whatever little extra "already used" heat can be had, switching sources when it eventually goes away. Central heating for cities helps that a lot since there's a standard way to deliver "x amount of heating water y degrees" as a commodity.

paolo

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 09:13:34 -0500

wrong way of recycling. But if they actually have so many incinirators good for Italy and other countries which have a problem with too much garbage and bad recycling methods, they have a way to get rid of their waste at least.

Jorgen

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:55:35 -0500

Neil, you got most of it wrong. First, we do sort & recycle our waste in Sweden. Paper, metals, plastics, organics are separated and recycled. Only what's left is burnt - which is one reason there is not enough to burn anymore. Second, by controlling the incineration, there are basically no dioxins produced. Third, most of the other dangereous stuff can be removed as well, and thus not let out in the air (this is not dirty American incinerators!).

Jorgen

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:01:55 -0500

But of course we look for ways to reduce the demand for heat! All the time! Even if heat is comparatively inexpensive in Sweden, the heating bills still cause pain in our wallets. Presumably that won't change until we get some more of that global warming they promise will come.

Peter

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 06:53:28 -0600

This is actually a really good idea. During the winters it can get really cold in sweden and there is a huge demand for heating. And it gives countries like Italy (where the mob controls the land fills) a chance to get rid of their garbage in an environmentally friendly way. One mans garbage is another mans treasure ;-)

Yad Dhillon

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 00:50:44 -0600

This in noval way of disposing garbage. In India this method needs to be implemtnted. can any one give me project of small plants where it can be implemented

Nancy

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 09:46:39 -0500

Looks like the second to last line has a mistake. Was it supposed to be Norway instead of Sweden who "needs to find ways to reduce its own waste in the future."?

john fnech

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 14:20:02 -0500

we need to find company buying recycling card board plastic aluminum papers or metalwe can deal the price we are ready to export.
regards
john

OmniTech Support

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 07:32:13 -0500

Tthis is really a great idea by Sweden. It was so successful that that Sweden achieved the goal by recycling the waste. Kudos to the master brain behind this. You have provided me with lots of useful information. I have book marked your page for further updates. Regards