The responsibility for waste management at the political level rests with the Ministry of the Environment, with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency as the central enforcement and supervising agency and, at the regional level, the County Administrative Boards. At the local level, these responsibilities lie with the municipalities.
Permits for bigger and more complex activities are to be issued by Regional Environmental Courts according to the new Environmental Code. A Supreme Environmental Court will serve as the court of appeal.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency is the central supervisory body and major authority on the environment and on the implementation of environmental legislation.
The Agency is not a licensing body, but has a co-ordinating role in providing advice and gathering information that form the environmental and technical basis for assessments carried out by licensing bodies and also provide polluters and society with current information on appropriate environmental protection measures and standards. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has for such purposes, for example, issued cleaner technology and pollution control guidelines for all major industrial lines of business as well as control guidelines for municipal waste management and hazardous waste management. Guidelines have also been issued for environmental inspections of installations, effluent monitoring and environmental quality monitoring.
The County Administrative Boards
The County Administrative Boards have the main responsibility for environmental protection at the regional level. Special licensing boards connected to the County Administrative Boards issue licences in accordance with environmental legislation for landfills and other activities, and supervise environmental work at local level. Regional waste management plans are drawn up by these boards, which also co-ordinate and supervise environmental monitoring.
Municipalities
The municipalities, through their environment and health protection committees, issue authorisations for smaller installations under the Environmental Code and carry out necessary enforcement.
Waste management has long been a municipal concern, the two main duties being the formulation of waste management plans and the handling of household waste. Today, each municipality is responsible for household waste, including hazardous waste generated by households. Hazardous household waste is collected and taken to a treatment facility. However, waste streams covered by extended producer responsibility regulations for packaging, waste paper, tyres and cars are excluded from collection by the municipalities.
The cost of waste management in municipalities is borne by the waste producers and waste holders, e.g. households. Many municipalities have introduced differentiated waste collection fees in order to provide an incentive to sort waste more efficiently and minimise the amount of waste.
The municipalities and waste disposal firms educate and inform consumers and producers in matters such as at-source sorting of waste and the properties and management of waste, so that the work can be done efficiently and in an environmentally sound manner.
| Swedish local government and the municipalities |
| Swedish municipalities bear the primary responsibility for environmental protection, health care, energy supply, public transport, drinking water supply, waste management and wastewater treatment. Municipalities are also responsible for the implementation and enforcement of several enactments relating to the enviroment.
The municipalities are entitled to levy user charges for their technical services. |
| The local Agenda 21 work in municipalities for better waste management |
| Agenda 21 puts the management of natural resources and environmental issues, such as waste management, in a social and economic context. The Agenda 21 document states that many of the steps to achieve sustainable development in the future have to be taken at the local level. These local actions, referred to as local Agenda 21, are not only a task for authorities in Sweden. All citizens, groups and organisations are encouraged to participate in this continuous process.
Some of these local action plans concern waste management. Within the waste management field the main focus is on waste separation and composting. The process has become a widespread activity because it is tangible and easy to commit to, both in private households and workplaces. |
| Municipal handling of household waste |
| The municipalities make sure that waste and residual products are transported from the party generating the waste to treatment facilities. In the past, the municipalities did little more than collect the waste and take it to a treatment facility, but currently take active part in the improvement of treatment methods and the work to minimise waste.
This handling of household waste is carried out through:
In general, waste treatment facilities are owned and operated by municipalities or municipal companies. Private companies as well as municipalities or municipal companies carry out waste collection and transport. |
| Collection of batteries |
| The municipalities are now responsible for collection of all toxic and non-toxic batteries. The further treatment and recycling of collected batteries is financed via a fee on toxic batteries, e.g. car and mobile phone batteries. |
Central interest organisations
In Sweden there are two major central interest organisations in the field of waste management. The Swedish Association of Waste Management (RVF) represents local waste departments, municipal waste companies, manufacturing companies, private waste contractors, consultant firms etc., and is concerned with all aspects of waste management. The Swedish Recycling Industries’ Association represents companies working in the recycling field. The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and the Federation of Swedish Industries also play important roles in the waste management field as central policy interest organisations for the municipalities and industry.