Importing Waste for Profit

Can you imagine a country importing waste? Sweden, population 9.8 millon, is perhaps the only country in the world to do so.

- Dr. Emmanuel D’Silva

IN 2015, Sweden imported 1.5 million metric tonnes of waste, nearly a third of the garbage it generated on its own. The imports came mostly from the United Kingdom, Norway, Ireland and other European countries under strict controls.

Sweden produces about 4.5 million tonnes of municipal waste a year. Less than 1% goes to a dumping ground. About 2.4 million tonnes is used to generate heat and electricity for 810,000 homes, 0.6 million tonnes is treated biologically to produce biogas to run cars and buses, and the balance one-third is recycled.

By way of contrast, India is a nation of 1,300 million people. While there are no accurate figures of how much waste is produced in India, a 2011 estimate pegs them at 68 million tonnes from 366 towns and cities. Municipalities merely collect garbage and transport it to a nearby dumpsite with hardly any treatment. A few cities like Pune compost some of the organic waste. Whatever is recycled is through the uncoordinated efforts of thousands of invisible waste recyclers.