What to do with all this garbage?

Did you know that Chileans produce 1 kilo of garbage per day? The implications of this become quite serious when we consider that we are approximately 16 million people, so in a year we produce 16 thousand tons of garbage that end up in landfills, polluting the environment. Seems natural to ask ourselves, what can we do? Well, you can start by reducing your purchases of disposable goods to the minimum. This means DON’T BUY THINGS WITH HEAVY PACKAGING. Reuse your possessions. Don’t just through away something that could still be of value, try to repair it. Recycle. Separate your garbage and take it to a clean spot you know of. We tend to think they’re inexistent in Chile, but the truth is that you have to look for them, if you live in a big city, you’re most likely to find one closer than you think. Before throwing something away, just double-check that there’s no other use you can give it. Pay special attention to appliances as they are made of many parts, so you might be able to rescue a part of it and give it another use (and maybe even sell it).

Once I’ve explained this to you, I feel is my obligation to tell you something more about garbage. Most of us see garbage as something to be discarded, plain and simple waste. But, what if I told you that garbage can also be an energy source? Swedes discovered garbage’s potential before anyone did. And now, they are able to supply heating to approximately 950,000 households and electricity to 260,000 households. You have to understand that for garbage to become an energy source, there has to be a strong public policy on recycling. You cannot simply burn all the garbage you produce as it would have a tremendous impact on the environment. This is how Swedes pulled it off: In the 70’s, Sweden implemented strong rules and regulations on waste management for households and companies. This marked the beginning of the deep-rooted waste-management hierarchy: waste prevention, reuse, recycling, recycling alternatives and disposal. So, before garbage is sent away to be incinerated, waste is filtered by households and companies. The WTE (waste-to-energy) plants are responsible for the incineration of garbage. There are 32 in total and they burn annually about 2 million tons of trash which allows them to produce energy.

Nevertheless, the Swedish waste-management methods have been so efficient that WTE plants were running out of thrash. So, they decided to import if from UK, Italy, Norway and Ireland. In relation to this, the Swedish Waste Management communications director Anna-Carin Gripwell said that “Waste today is a commodity in a different way than it has been. It’s not only waste, it’s a business.” Swedes depend on this strong source of energy. The 2 million tons burned per year produces approximately 670,000 tons worth of fuel oil energy. That’s a lot of energy! 

Watch this video to learn more about Sweden's recycling revolution.