In his previous book, Jonas Frycklund raised eyebrows by pushing the theory that liberal-spending consumers are important to society’s progress. In the follow-up, Släng den här boken – den är snart en äggkartong (Junk this book — it’ll soon be an egg carton), Swedish Enterprise economist Frycklund looks at the flipside of consumerism: waste management.
“The garbage mountain still exists but it’s smaller than most people think. Every Swede dumps 515 kilos of rubbish a year, 15 of which go to landfill. The rest goes to recycling and incineration. This mean less greenhouse gas emissions, a better environment and a better chance of reaching our climate goals,” says Frycklund.
The book notes that Sweden is among the leading nations in regaining energy from garbage. The reason is that Sweden is good at scale solutions for environmental problems, claims the writer.
“The green movement talks up small-scale solutions. But large-scale solutions have been good for Sweden — for example, improved material recuperation.”
He also makes a case for district heating facilities. Expansion has made it easier to refit for new, more environmentally adapted fuels like rubbish and forestry byproducts, helping Sweden reduce carbon dioxide emissions in recent years.
“The constant development of technology and better sorting have reduced emissions.”
The situation is not as bright elsewhere. He points out that rubbish mountains are still growing in many parts of Europe and that rubbish tips leak methane gas, one of the most lethal greenhouse gases.
Frycklund wants to export Sweden’s experiences of district heating and garbage incineration to the rest of Europe. If Sweden can show that recycling more than manages every increase in the volume of rubbish and that the environment can be improved at the same time as we continue to consume, it will be easier to attract an audience for our solutions, Frycklund maintains.
“Big investment in district heating on a Europe-wide level would cut carbon dioxide emissions by 400 million tonnes, which equates to nine percent of emissions from the EU’s rubbish incineration,” says Frycklund.
He sees potential for a growing service industry with Swedish companies exporting system solutions. But before that can happen, the technology must be made available to private companies; today it’s public sector property. And the green movement, so ready to flag disaster, must be more optimistic.
“The green movement can help by promoting the idea that the environment can be improved and the garbage mountain can be eliminated,” says Jonas Frycklund.
