Sweden's recycling so effective they have run out of garbage

[W1sp]

http://www.independent.co.uk/environ...-a7462976.html


So in Sweden most trash is sorted and the rest is burnt to gain electricity and hot water while the fumes are treated to minimise the impact on the environment. Should other countries follow suit or are their more effective means?

[I Push Buttons]

But they get more immigrants everyday?

I jest, I jest.

On topic, it is much easier to do in small countries than large countries.

[McFuu]

But they get more immigrants everyday?

I jest, I jest.

On topic, it is much easier to do in small countries than large countries.

I think the logical answer to that is the same process in a larger scale would work the same for larger countries.

I'm not really familiar with their system, but burning trash sounds like a bad idea and causes all kinds of health issues.
I'm more interested in the cost effectiveness of the system, seeing as they do gain energy from it.

[Aggrophobic]

I think the logical answer to that is the same process in a larger scale would work the same for larger countries.

I'm not really familiar with their system, but burning trash sounds like a bad idea and causes all kinds of health issues.
I'm more interested in the cost effectiveness of the system, seeing as they do gain energy from it.

The trash is sorted very well befor being sent off to be burnt.
It's supposed to have less of a negative impact on health and environment than just stacking it at some landfill site.

[MonsieuRoberts]

Could it work in Canada? There's only a couple dozen million of us.

[Deleted]

But they get more immigrants everyday?

I jest, I jest.

On topic, it is much easier to do in small countries than large countries.

We burn it.
There is no feat of sorting and recycling, we are just very efficient in burning the garbage.
We import garbage to burn.

[taliey]

Checkmate environmentalists!

[Kallisto]

But they get more immigrants everyday?

I jest, I jest.

On topic, it is much easier to do in small countries than large countries.

No really it isn't. You just adjust for numbers

If a population of 5million needs 100k to sort out garbage. Then a country of 20m should just hire 400k etc. Just scale it up.

The whole small vs large country argument that comes up "Yeah it works for Sweden/Norway/Denmark etc. but..." is just a damn cop out.

[OperationFerret]

So what are they going to do with all those dumpsters? Recycle them?

[Underverse]

They should start importing trash. We have a lot here in America.

[Deleted]

Could it work in Canada? There's only a couple dozen million of us.

...garbage?

- - - Updated - - -

On a more serious note, I wonder what's the initial energy output.

This also trashes the green suggestions that we should rely more on garbage for heat. Seeing that it's possible to run out of trash to burn, it's not a viable solution for energy or heat production. An addition, perhaps.

[Polyxo]

On what basis do you assume linear scaling?

Well, once you get to full capacity for one full 'system' of garbage disposal, there isn't really greater degree of complexity that this one unit needs to be built upon.

[araine]

No really it isn't. You just adjust for numbers

If a population of 5million needs 100k to sort out garbage. Then a country of 20m should just hire 400k etc. Just scale it up.

The whole small vs large country argument that comes up "Yeah it works for Sweden/Norway/Denmark etc. but..." is just a damn cop out.

It is always the cop out for right wingers to not do the right thing since they always use it as the cop out forgetting simple math. It is like they always paint themself into a corner and go oh this recipe for cookies only makes 24 cookies i can clearly not use it make 240 cookies it clearly cant work when you need 240 cookies they just dont understand the concept of scaling up the recipe so you can make 240 cookies or 2400 cookies or 24000 cookies same goes for all the other issues they say cant be done in the USA due to we are to big nonsense excuse

[THE Bigzoman]

They probably burn a lot of energy to recycle that trash.

[nanook12]

Sweden is just fucking awesome. Higher or equal standard of living than the US, low income inequality, free college tuition, free healthcare, well maintained infrastructure, ranks high on the global happiness index. Swedes you guys rock!

[GreenJesus]

But.. What about the carbon emissions from burning all that trash?

[nanook12]

But.. What about the carbon emissions from burning all that trash?

In the OP's post he said exhaust fumes are treated before they are released.

[GreenJesus]

In the OP's post he said exhaust fumes are treated before they are released.

Yep, just like clean coal.

[W1sp]

Yep, just like clean coal.

De ökade utsläppskraven, förbättrade förhållanden och bättre sortering och kontroll av avfallet har gett resultat. Ett exempel på det är att batterier sorteras ut ur avfallet. Det har lett till att mängden kvicksilver i avfallet har minskat radikalt. Det har bidragit till att utsläppen till luft av kvicksilver och andra tungmetaller minskat med nära 99 procent sedan 1985. Likaså har de samlade utsläppen av dioxiner till luft från alla Sveriges förbränningsanläggningar minskat från ca 100 g till 0,6 g per år sedan 1980-talet.

Efter förbränningen kvarstår rester: slagg från ugnen och aska från rökgasreningen. Slagg är material som inte är brännbart, bland annat konservburkar och glasflaskor som av misstag hamnat i soporna istället för att lämnas till återvinning. Slaggen motsvarar 15-20 viktprocent av den mängd avfall som förbränts. Den största delen av slagget är slaggrus, men där finns också en del metallskrot. Metallen sorteras ut och återvinns. Slaggruset kan sedan användas som ersättning för naturgrus vid exempelvis konstruktion av vägar eller liknande, till exempel på en deponi.

From the swedish trash website.

The increased emissions standards, improved conditions and better sorting and checking of the waste produced results. An example of this is that batteries are sorted out from the waste. It has led to the amount of mercury in the waste has decreased radically. It has contributed to air emissions of mercury and other heavy metals have fallen by nearly 99 percent since 1985. Similarly, the total emissions of dioxins into the air from all Swedish incinerators decreased from about 100 g to 0.6 g per year since 1980 .

The remains from incineration: slag from the furnace and ash from the gas cleaning. Slag is a material that is not combustible, including tin cans and glass bottles that accidentally ended up in the trash instead of being sent for recycling. The slag is equivalent to 15-20 percent by weight of the amount of waste incinerated. The largest part of the slag is slag gravel, but there are also some scrap metal. The metal is sorted and recycled. The slag gravel can then be used as a substitute for gravel, for example, construction of roads or the like, such as in a landfill.

[Cosmic Janitor]

It helps to actually read the article. They recycle what they can (which usually isn't that much besides electronics, glass and metal) and burn the rest. If your commune/country operates on semi-modern standards then they will probably do the same already. If your country is still using massive landfills for more than 10% of your waste then they are about 3 decades behind. What this screams to me is that sweden build too much garbage disposal capacity and made a buisness out of it by burning others people garbage - after rather enviromentally unfriendly shipping it around the place a bit. Heck even the article mentions that they could be recycling paper a lot more, but they just burn it. Hailing it as the most efficient is a bit misleading..