Sweden Imports European Garbage To Power the Nation

Hugh Pickens writes "NPR reports that Sweden's program of generating energy from garbage is wildly successful, but recently its success has also generated a surprising issue: There is simply not enough trash. Sweden has recently begun to import about eight hundred thousand tons of trash from the rest of Europe per year to use in its power plants. Sweden already brings trash from Norway and hopes to get garbage from Italy, Romania, Bulgaria and the Baltic countries. Sweden creates energy for around 250,000 homes and powers one-fifth of the district heating system. Its incineration plants offer a look into the future where countries could potentially make money off of their trash instead of dumping. Landfilling of organic materials – a highly inefficient and environmentally degrading system (PDF) — has been forbidden in Sweden since 2005 and emissions of the greenhouse gas methane from landfills has fallen dramatically (PDF). 'I hope that we instead will get the waste from Italy or from Romania or Bulgaria or the Baltic countries because they landfill a lot in these countries,' says Catarina Ostlund, a senior advisor for the country's environmental protection agency. 'They don't have any incineration plants or recycling plants, so they need to find a solution for their waste.'"

Comments

First Post

[Anonymous Coward]

If only forum spam could be processed into electricity.

Bloody socialists

[pr0nbot]

Bloody socialists. My garbage is mine to dispose of as I see fit -- after, all I created it through my own private endeavour! To see it wrested from my hands is frankly an assault on my liberty and a chilling curb on garbage creators like me everywhere. By golly, if they take too much of my garbage, I'll be forced to move overseas.

Re:Bloody socialists

[Anonymous Coward]

As opposed to capitalists, who only license you the garbage ...

Re:Bloody socialists

[JaredOfEuropa]

Don't worry, this only applies to Eurotrash.

Re:Bloody socialists

[jalopezp]

Garbage collection in Naples is handled by the municipality afak. Remember that trash issue a few years ago? If the mafia had been in charge of trash, all the trash would have disappeared. No one makes things disappear like the mafia.

Re:Bloody socialists

[interkin3tic]

Yes, but where will it stop? After they've taken control of Europe's natural trash resources, they'll turn to Russia, then it will only be a matter of time before they attack us on our own jersey shores.

Re:Bloody socialists

[ColdWetDog]

So criminal organizations should are good and should be nurtured?

Well that's why we have elections, isn't it?

Re:Bloody socialists

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't worry, this only applies to Eurotrash.

No, Swedes import a lot of trash from Middle East and Africa too. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGk7w64ska8

Re:Haven't read TFA

[mikael]

India had a similar situation. With great pomp and ceremony, the Indian energy minister announced the "switching-on" of the first trash-burning power plant. He pressed the big red start button, and the furnaces start up. The generating power dial slowly rose and then stopped way below target to much applause. After he went away, they did an investigation and discovered ... that anything burnable (car tyres, wood, boxes, packaging was already being recycled. What was left was just soggy wet compost.