Saturday, December 1, 2012
Sweden imports trash from Norway for heat, electricity
Sweden imports trash from Norway for heat, electricity is an interesting news article by Charlie Wells of NY Daily News that I happened upon today. According to the article, "In a country [Sweden] where only 4 percent of waste goes to landfills, officials have had to start importing trash so they can keep making heat and electricity." That's amazing! This article is definitely something to check out. For those doubting the 4% statistic, the information in Wells's article is solid. Eurostat, "the statistical office of the European Union," verifies that less than 5% of Sweden's waste goes to landfills in Municipal waste statistics.
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This something we should be doing more of here in the U.S.....turn trash into electricity instead of making more and more landfills. I don't have exact figures but a few years ago where I live there was a big debate whether to build a new landfill, truck trash to out of state landfills, or build an incinerator. Incinerators cost more upfront and I don't know if they eventually pay for themselves with the electricity they generate. Also care has to be taken that they aren't putting out too much pollution. But turning trash into usable energy has to beat just throwing it in landfills.
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