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

[Deleted]

Hailing it as the most efficient is a bit misleading..

Can be more efficient in the future do not deny most efficient (at this time) titel.

[GrinningMan]

Not even close to the same.

Oh well you sure showed her.

[Kuntantee]

But they get more immigrants everyday?

I jest, I jest.

Terrible "jest".

[Deleted]

What's more surprising is that this isn't more commonplace around the world. Reasonable incineration facilities can be built with a minimum of cost alongside nearly any other kind of power plant to supplement power for restarting the reaction if needed, and they already are a net positive of energy run with predating technology.

[I Push Buttons]

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.

Not really.

Sweden's system works fine for Sweden... A small amount of garbage (relative to large countries) traveling a very small distance (relative to large countries).

This is all on top of the fact that every other country does still recycle (probably using nearly exactly the same processes), Sweden is simply small and their meager amount of garbage is much more manageable than something like the US where there are 32 times as many people and 22 times as much territory to cover.

[Deleted]

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

They convert lots of that burning to energy though.

[Deleted]

Sweden's system works fine for Sweden... A small amount of garbage (relative to large countries) traveling a very small distance (relative to large countries)

Most of the population in US is concentrated along the cost or the big lakes. So the distance is not longer than in Sweden. Large amount of garbage give economy of scale.

[Deleted]

The article really sounds as if they basically burn the shit out of everything that they can't recycle easily

-> so effective, such wow.

[Deleted]

I think he means they use a lot of energy in the process of recycling.

Insted of discard all trach in one dust-bin that a garbage truck take, you have several dust-bin for various materials that a garbage truck with different cargo compartment get....suppose that the garbage truck get a bit more weight becuse of the bulk heads.

[Cairhiin]

They basically burn the shit out of everything the can't recycle easily

-> so effective, such wow.

What would you suggest else to do with it, if you can't recycle it? You have heard of the waste management pyramid right? I hope you don't intend on landfilling it instead.

[Strawberry]

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!

A lot of those points are bullshit.
I go to a doctor and they treat me for free, then a week later an invoice finds it's way to my mailbox.
University is "free". Not. Sure we get about €350/month, but we have to buy the books. And with that low income you must live with your parents, or take a loan. Which you have to pay back.
Maybe equal standard to US, but what cost $700 in the US, cost $900 in Sweden because taxes.
People always assume the grass is greener on the other side.

[Deleted]

You have heard of the waste management pyramid right?

That's exactly what I was talking about....?

If you can reuse it, you reuse it and not fucking burn it to get "energy" back, because it's not efficient.
I mean, Sweden isn't even in the top 5 in Europe when it comes to recycling afaik... unless this has changed in the last 3 years.

[XDurionX]

Neither would i call burning garbage "recycling" nor would i call having a little overhead on capacities "running out of garbage".

[dvaz]

A lot of those points are bullshit.
I go to a doctor and they treat me for free, then a week later an invoice finds it's way to my mailbox.
University is "free". Not. Sure we get about €350/month, but we have to buy the books. And with that low income you must live with your parents, or take a loan. Which you have to pay back.
Maybe equal standard to US, but what cost $700 in the US, cost $900 in Sweden because taxes.
People always assume the grass is greener on the other side.

Okay okay, how about them ladies tho?

[Pantelija]

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?

Sometimes i wonder if you people even read the articles you try to shill here, how is burning garbage and releasing toxic shit in into the air environmental friendly?

[Deleted]

You're still not understanding. The energy being referred to is electricity. To recycle things you have to use power.

Yes, but to creat new material you have to use much more electricity. To refine bauxit to aluminum is crazy expensive in electricity compared to recycle aluminum cans. It take more energy to harverst and prepare tree to make paper then it take to use recycle paper.

See the line now?

[Holofernes]

its similar to germany. our waste is so good separated, that many waste burning facilities need to be supplemented with oil because the waste is not flamable enough. And waste is beeing imported to be burned for the waste power plants.

[Deleted]

and then not understanding what kind of energy was being discussed(thinking it meant human energy and not electricity). Get it?

Ok, the human energy is relative low, In Sweden you separating waste using different trash cans. Older kitchens have problems because they are not made for 3 trash cans. It very common to have a cental point (within short walking distance) there different large trash cans is set up for different materials ther you emptying your private trash cans.

[Cairhiin]

That's exactly what I was talking about....?

If you can reuse it, you reuse it and not fucking burn it to get "energy" back, because it's not efficient.
I mean, Sweden isn't even in the top 5 in Europe when it comes to recycling afaik... unless this has changed in the last 3 years.

Incineration is the best option if it can't be recycled. As it recovers energy. There are better steps before recycling yes (reduce, reuse) but until companies start doing their share, ie design items for disassembly/reuse/recycling etc it is hardly Sweden's fault they end up incinerating waste that can't be recycled. Part of the problem is that companies still produce products made from many different types of plastics which makes reusing and recycling a problem. Similarly, the large amount of plastic packaging waste is also mostly caused by companies. Furthermore, the real problem is that recycling and reverse logistics in general require large amounts of relatively skilled labour input and is thus expensive, and unfortunately we end up exporting our shit to China.

I think in Finland for instance 50% of all household waste is recycled. Unfortunately household waste is only a small percentage of the total waste produced. I also agree Sweden isn't groundbreaking compared to other countries in Europe, and I totally agree we need to do much better, but at least Sweden is working on the problem. There are many other countries that just landfill most their waste.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

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..

Our municipal public transport system runs on electricity generated by incinerating non-recyclable trash.