Collection of household waste, Sweden, 2000. I - Collection of recyclables

摘要

Over the last century, household waste management in Sweden has shifted from finding the best place for disposal to an issue with ramifications throughout society. The Swedish government stated in 1999 that all waste fractions should be treated according to their properties so that they could be re-incorporated into material flows. Traditionally the municipal authorities have had responsibility for dealing with household waste. Since 1994 municipalities and producers have shared this responsibility. The division of responsibility, demographic variations and a varying ability to treat and find use for materials has resulted in a number of different systems for collecting household waste throughout the country. This has occurred as forces driven by ideology on one hand and a will to adapt to the existing market on the other have vied with a desire to achieve accessibility for the user and the waste collector. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the different types of collection systems currently in use in Sweden. The collection system is divided into the following sub-systems: Collection of 1. waste from single-family houses 2. waste from apartment blocks 3. garden waste 4. bulky/heavy household waste 5. hazardous waste 6. materials covered by the Swedish law on producers' responsibility. This first report gives a short account of collection techniques for ordinary household waste but is focused on materials collected under the producers' responsibility.