Incineration of fossil-based plastic needs to be reduced in order for Sweden to achieve its climate goals
Plastic production is a source of greenhouse gas emissions; however, a large part of the carbon is contained in the product itself and is emitted during combustion. Most of the plastic we use is incinerated. In order for Sweden to achieve its climate goals, emissions must be reduced.
Every year about 1,7 million tonnes of plastic waste is generated in Sweden of which the majority, about 74 percent, goes to incineration for energy recovery or is used as fuel in industry. Only 8 percent of Swedish plastic waste, mainly packaging, is recycled. For approximately 17 percent, the waste treatment is unknown.
When incinerating waste with energy recovery, the energy in the waste is recovered through conversion to electricity and district heating. Globally it is common to landfill or incinerate plastic waste without recovering energy, which is less resource efficient. In 2023, waste incineration accounted for approximately 80 percent of emissions from the electricity and district heating sector, amounting to around 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. Over 90 percent of these emissions are estimated to originate from fossil-based plastics, which are produced almost entirely from oil and natural gas. Although greenhouse gas emissions also occur during plastic production, more than half of the total life cycle emissions come from incineration. Greenhouse gas emissions are also generated during production, but more than half of the emissions from a lifecycle perspective comes from the incineration of plastic. To reach the goal of net- zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, emissions from plastic incineration need to be reduced. This can be done by replacing fossil plastics with bio-based or recycled plastics and reduce the amount of plastic for incineration. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency promotes sustainable plastic use, meaning that plastic is used appropriately and in the right contexts – within resource- and climate-efficient, non-toxic, and circular systems with minimal leakage.