Introduction
| Reference year | 2024 |
| Population (-) | 10,587,710 |
| Population density (inhabitants per km²) | 24 |
| Number of distinct collection areas (-) | 254 |
| Amount of separately collected organics streams (t per year): | 855,929 |
| ↳ Thereof food waste stream (t per year) | 460,806 |
| ↳ Thereof green waste stream (t per year) | 395,123 |
| Amount of collected residual waste (t per year) | 1,513,680 |
| Total organics streams separation rate (%) | 36.1 |
| Biowaste stream separation rate (%) | 57 |
| Biowaste recycling rate (%) | 83 |
| Total recycling rate (%) | 46 |
Note: Key Performance Indicators and Influencing Factors are defined on the project website: Link
Waste collection organisation in Sweden
As shown in Figure 1, Sweden primarily organises waste collection at a municipal level. In southern Sweden, however, some municipalities have formed a consortium to manage waste jointly. In total, there are 254 distinct waste collection areas.
Food waste stream quantities
The mean quantity of separately collected food waste was 42 ± 13 kg per inhabitant and year (median = 43), with a minimum of 1, and a maximum of 80. The quantities shown on the map (Figure 2) represent those collected per distinct waste collection area.
Infobox: Separate collection of food waste in Sweden
Separate collection from households and businesses is mandatory since the beginning of 2024. Not only that, the mandate also requires property-close collection, i.e. door-to-door collection (“fastighetsnära”). Municipalities can only postpone implementation if Naturvårdsverket grants a time-limited dispensation based on specific legal grounds such as technical infeasibility, unreasonable cost, or better overall environmental performance of another solution.
Food waste is collected separately as a single-stream fraction in Sweden. Additional collection for green waste exists. Door-to-door separate collection of food waste is offered to 99.3% of the population (245 collection areas), and 0.7% are not offered any option for separate collection for it.
Residual waste is collected door-to-door from all households in Sweden.
Residual waste stream quantities
The mean quantity of collected residual waste was 136 ± 34 kg per inhabitant and year (median = 131), with a minimum of 41, and a maximum of 333. The quantities shown on the map (Figure 3) represent those collected per distinct waste collection area.
Biowaste stream separation rate
The biowaste stream separation rate (SRBW,gross) indicates for most collection areas a residual-waste-dominant collection (Figure 4). Mainly in central and southern Sweden, there are 34 regions with a larger share of waste collected via the biowaste stream, however still below quantities collected in the residual waste stream.
The mean SRBW,gross was 24.4 ± 8 % (median = 24), with a minimum of 1, and a maximum of 49.
Associated Fact Sheets
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