Incineration of fossil‑based plastic needs to be reduced for Sweden to achieve its climate goals
Most of Sweden’s plastic ends up being incinerated, releasing the carbon stored in the material throughout its life cycle. Although plastic production emits greenhouse gases, majority of emissions occur when the plastic is incinerated, cutting these emissions is essential for Sweden to meet its national climate goals.
A total of approximately 1.7 million tonnes of plastic waste are generated annually in Sweden, the majority of which is sent for incineration for energy recovery or used as fuel in industrial processes. Although the energy contained in the waste is utilised, incineration remains a significant source of emissions. Only 8 percent of Sweden’s mapped plastic waste, primarily packaging, is known with certainty to be recycled into new material. The actual recycling rate may be underestimated, as information on the treatment of certain sorted waste streams is lacking.
When waste is incinerated for energy recovery, the energy contained in the waste is converted primarily into electricity and district heating. Globally, it remains common practice to landfill or incinerate plastic waste without recovering its energy content, a considerably less resource‑efficient approach.
Emissions from waste incineration
In 2023, waste incineration accounted for approximately 80 percent of emissions from Sweden’s electricity and district heating sector, totally around 3 million tonnes of carbon‑dioxide equivalents. More than 90 percent of these emissions are estimated to originate from fossil‑based plastics, which are produced almost exclusively from oil and natural gas. Although greenhouse gas emissions also occur during plastic production, more than half of the total life‑cycle emissions arise at the point of incineration.
Plastic produced from virgin fossil feedstock and subsequently incinerated after use, is estimated, from a life‑cycle perspective, to generate approximately five tonnes of carbon‑dioxide equivalents per tonne of plastic. On average, around 2.5 tonnes of carbon‑dioxide equivalents per tonne of plastic arise during production, or about 1 tonne when renewable energy is used, while incineration contributes an additional 2.7 tonnes of carbon‑dioxide equivalents per tonne of plastic.
Reducing emissions to reach climate goals
To achieve the goal of net‑zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, emissions from plastic incineration must be reduced. This can be accomplished by substituting fossil‑based plastics with bio‑based or recycled plastics, as well as by decreasing the volume of plastic sent to incineration. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency works to promote sustainable plastic use, meaning that plastics are used appropriately and in the right contexts, within resource‑ and climate‑efficient, non‑toxic and circular streams with negligible leakage.