On January 1, 2027, all municipalities in Sweden must have introduced curb side collection of paper, plastic, glass and metal packaging for households and co-located businesses. The aim is to increase the sorting and collection of packaging and thereby improve the chances for Sweden to reach the recycling targets.

In a letter to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Government, 55 municipalities request changes to the legislation and to give the municipalities more options for collection. It has been followed up by a debate article in Dagens Samhälle on 18 November, where five representatives of the municipalities request more flexible waste management:

“A more flexible waste management is needed” (In Swedish only)

The municipal grouping does not believe that requirements for curb side collection for all types of material from all types of housing bring any environmental benefit, but instead result in increased costs, emissions and transport.

Participating municipalities want the constitutional requirements to be adjusted so that the following can be achieved:

• That the municipalities have the opportunity to design the collection of glass and metal packaging from single-family houses either close to the property or in another way that the municipality itself decides.
• That the municipalities have the opportunity to design the collection of all types of packaging from holiday homes either close to the property or in another way that the municipality itself decides.
• That the municipalities receive compensation in both cases, for collection close to the property or for another solution.

 

Comment from Näringslivets Producentansvar

Curb side collection most important for plastic and paper packaging

The main purpose of the collection reform is good, as the sorting, collection and recycling of packaging needs to increase.

With an improved level of service for households, the amount of sorted packaging is expected to increase, and thus also the material recycling rate. However, this applies above all to plastic and paper packaging, which today does not reach the set targets for Sweden, in contrast to metal packaging which exceeds the target and glass packaging which is very close to the target.

(Source: Sweden’s recycling of packaging – follow-up of producer responsibility for packaging 2022, The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency)

It is therefore not a necessity with curb side collection for glass and metal packaging for the goals to be reached. They account for a small volume relative to paper and plastic packaging and are also expected to decrease in the future. One reason for that is greatly increased packaging fees as a result of the costs for curb side collection.

Adhering to the curb side collection requirement for packaging in glass and metal means, just as the 55 municipalities argue, both unnecessary transport and an unnecessarily expensive collection, without it making any actual difference to collection and recycling.

 

Adjust the compensation in case of changes in legislation

If the municipalities are given greater flexibility in how they choose to collect glass and metal packaging from singe-family houses and all types of packaging from holiday homes, this requires a revision of the compensation model, so that the compensation reflects the actual costs in these municipalities. Continued collection via easily accessible collection points or community solutions is more cost-effective than FNI and should therefore also generate a lower compensation.