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Sustainable consumption and waste management – towards the sustainable development goals

Presenters:- Sofia Mackin, head of unit

- Ali Qadiri, sustainability coordinator

Region VästernorrlandThe Unit for Environment and Sustainability

State of play – Region Västernorrland

Karibuni!

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Programme 29 September – 2 October

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• 1 October, Tuesday

• 9.30 – Departure to the County hospital in Sundsvall

• 10-11.30 – Visit the kitchen and presentation of their work with reduced food waste

• 11.30-13. Lunch

• 13-15. – Information about waste management in the organization

• – Study visit linked to the waste management at the County hospital

• 15.30-16.30 – Follow up and summarizing the visit in Västernorrland

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• 2 October, Wednesday

• 9:30 – Departure to Region Västernorrland in Härnösand

• 10.30-11.30 – Visit the Solar energy room, presentation

• Jane, June and Ali to ICLD MPPtaining

• 12.30-13.30 – Lunch in Sundsvall

• 14.00-16.00 – Visit Birsta

• 3 October, Thursday

• 11.40 – Departure to the Central station

• 12.06 – Train to Arlanda airport

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Region Västernorrland

• Securing good quality of life for the citizens of Västernorrland through public health work, efficiant health and medical care, primary care, dental care and regional development

• Promote sustainable growth, education, culture, research, international collaboration.

• Enhanced responsibility area since 2017

• Regulatory documents in our operations: regional development strategy, sustainability plan, governmental tasks, international policy & action-plan, law and provisions.

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Political structure of VästernorrlandRegion

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The administrative organisation

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The Unit for Environment and Sustainability• Department of Regional Development

• Environmental- och sustanability specialists

• Internal and external activities

• Advisory function (politicians, documents, supportive)

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Our joint trademark in this partnership

✓ Half of the world’s population live in cities

✓ The cities occupy 3 % of the Earth’s surface but account for 60 – 80 % of energy

consumption and 75 % of total carbon emissions

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Trinity between Swedes, nature and fostering

❑ A green nation (70 % forest area)

❑ 1900; nature integral in school curriculum to foster and preserve. Nature a place of recreation away from the industrial society.

❑ Right of public access to the wilderness or the "right to roam” granted by the Constitution of Sweden. Appreciative activities (bird-watching, paddling, hiking) before consumptive activities (hunting, fishing).

❑ The emergence of the Green Party in 1981.

❑ 20 agencies have specific environmental tasks

❑ Stockholm; European Green Capital in 2010.

❑ Well ranked but can improve (SDG 13-14: C02 emissions per capita and life below water).

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In retrospect: evolvement of Swedish policy and attitudes

Early 60s; Natural resources perceived as limitless.

Late 60s; Maintained growth, conservation through regulation and consensus, hence the Swedish EPA. End of pipe-solution.

70s; Environment movement due to nuclear power, industry pollution etc.

80s; Shift towards proactive policy. Lifestyle and consumption acknowledged (gamechangers; the Brundtland Report).

90s: The Rio Summit and ecological modernisation. Sustainable development integrated in economic growth. Adopted the producer responsibility.

2000-; Millennium Development Goals and its continuation in the Sustainable Development Goals guide policies and international development aid.

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The dualism of Swedish environmental policy in terms of power and implementation

Devolved as local industries and municipalities are to implement provisions on environmental protection.

More centralized since joining the EU (Binding directives and guiding strategies)

Centralized as ministries allocates investment funds while governmental agencies oversees private sector and municipalities

The duality of Swedish

environmental policy in terms of power and

implementation

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The Swedish Environmental Code (1998:808)- division

of responsibility on waste management

Municipalities shall ensure that: household waste generated in the municipality is transported to a waste

treatment, recycled or removed.

Household waste; waste from households and equivalent waste from businesses.

Households: responsible for separating and depositing waste at available collection points.

Businesses: responsible for disposing of non-household waste and waste that is not covered by

producer responsibility.

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Influence of the European

Union on Swedish law

EU-directive on waste hierarchy incorporated in Swedish law.

It regulates five levels of priority on waste management.

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Prepared? Upcoming restrictions in EU • 2020 » min. 50 % of food waste is biologically

treated to recover energy and nutriments.

• 2021 » non-recyclable plastic products in immediate consumption are banned (plates, Styrofoam, disposable cutlery)

• 2021 » Municipals obliged to provide transportation for food waste, collected and separated by households

• 2023 » Separate collection for biowaste mandatory.

• 2025 » Minimum 55 % of the municipal waste to be recovered to other materiel. Separate collection of fabrics mandatory.

• 2035 » Maximum 10 % of the waste to landfill

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Care to make a guess?

How much waste is generated to

produce a regular pair of cotton

trouser?

Environmental footprints of common consumer products

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National waste trends

of Swedish households

Sweden has a good track record when it comes to limiting landfill usage and recovering material, energy and nutrients from waste.

2018: average Swede produced 466 kg of household waste. The

average rate in EU was 487 kg/person.

On average, Swedish households pay about the cost of a Swedish apple per

day to have their waste collected and to have access to recycling centers

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Region Västernorrland’s

goals and challenges

❖ Goal; annual net decrease of the total waste

❖ a minimum of 40% of the waste is recycled.

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Waste produced in Västernorrland county

• 466 kg household waste in average per capita in 2018.

• 1,2 kg/person daily.

• 438 kg the year before.

• Equivalent amount in the European Union is, in average, 487 kg per/citizen.

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Ambitious climate and environmental goals

Sweden, a model of ecologicallysustainable development?

1999: adopted an ambitious environmentalpackage to be fulfilled by 2020.

✓ The generational goal: required changes within one generation for the next one.

✓ Environmental quality goals: the quality of the environment that Sweden wishes to achieve.

The package is the ecological aspect of the Agenda 2030.

2017: the parliament adopted a new climate policy framework.

-New climate goals set for 2030, 2040, 2045. -Target of net zero emissions by 2045, with milestone targets for 2030 and 2040.

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Current progress of the 16 environmental quality

objectives Sweden wishes to achieve by 2020

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State of play: Mandate and regulatory documents

• The regional development strategy (RUS)

• Cooperation-agreement 2015

• The Region’s operational and economic plan

• The environmental and energy programme 2015-2019

• Annual environmental- and energy statement

• The Region’s international policy and work-plan

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Operational actions for the joint-project

✓ Educating members of project organisation

✓ 95 % have undergone basic environmental training

✓ Study visits + one-day seminars on Agenda 2030

✓ Instructional videos on energy & consumption on the website

✓ Web-based environmental training with various themes

✓ Certified per ISO 14001

✓ Newsletter for personnel to tell and listen

✓ Sustainable procurement

✓ Local representatives in environmental issues

✓ External environmental collaboration in regional, national, cross-sectorial networks and task groups

✓ Folk high schools’ sessions

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95 % have undergone basic environmental training

1. Introduction

2. Energy

3. Communication and travelling

4. Sustainable purchases and waste

5. Drugs and chemicals

6. How do we proceed?

Environment and energy

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Study visits + one-day seminars on Agenda 2030 2018

• Two one-day seminars

• Environment and health

2019

• How do we communicateabout sustainabledevelopment?

• Increase the conditions for a sustainable and equitable everyday life

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Certified per ISO 14001Environmental management system

Benefits:

Overall structure

Increased recycling

Lower climate impact

Challanges:

Implementation in everyday work

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Local representatives in environmental issuesAt least one at every workplace

Our contacts in the organization

Meetings twice a year

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Sustainable procurement• Products and services – 4

billion each year

• Laws according to public procurement

• Environmental and sustainablerequirements on contractors

Challenges:

• Purchases without agreements

• More expensive?

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2016 recipient of model environmental strategy award

• Rewarded the Region’s internal climate compensation rewards for business travels.

• New travelling system in 2013-2014 for increased use of sustainable travel modes.

• A cost was added to non-eco-friendly flights and car travel, and the money has been used via a climate account for regional business travel by rail and bus.

• Reduced business flights by 80 percent since 2012 while the use of public transportation increased with 350 percent.

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Solutions innovative or adaptive?

Swedish green-tech company has developed an underground waste-management system.

https://www.envacgroup.com/about-envac-group/ (0-3.05 min.)

The City of Bergen, in Norway, went to air-filled waste collection system.

https://www.envacgroup.com/

Expensive, space-consuming and smelly if the pipes get clogged.

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A cool local investment in our region to save energy Inconvenient large snow-heaps

are not rare in our county.

Storing overabundance of seasonal snow to cool air-conditioning systems

Rational, cost-effective, innovative.

Feasible in snowy areas, otherwise not sustainable due to transportation emissions (USA, Japan & Norway).

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Project in 1997-2008 and now permanent.

A pool with capacity to house 70 000 cubic meters of snow.

Via a specially-designed, insulated room cooled by melted snow, cool of melted snow-water is absorbed and transported by pumps and pipes to cool down the regional hospital.

Reduces use of traditional refrigerating devices.

Additional snow injected by a snow-cannon. If the spring is too hot, the pool is covered by an insulating layer of chipboard.

Merges three problems into an energy solution:✓ Utilises the cold contained in the snow removed from

streets.✓ Reduces electricity use and noise nuisance ✓ Polluted snow, containing chemical refrigerants, is

filtered before the meltwater is released.

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Positive environmental and economic effects

The facility has surpassed expectations with regard to energy and environment:

Use of electricity for cooling has decreased by 90% compared to conventional cooling machines.

Emissions of greenhouse gas decreased by 70 tonnes of CO2 equivalents/year.

Carbon dioxide emissions have decreased by 290 tonnes/year.

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Thank you for your time and attention!