How's this for a title?

"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/12/sweden-imports-trash_n_1876746.html"

+1 to Sweden.

Good I hope this catches on to Canada. Burning garbage for power can be a good thing. Japan does it as well right?

Thanks. I'm from Sweden.

Why not invest in other forms of energy instead? Not only is burning general waste and consumer byproducts incredibly inefficient at generating power without proper care (and even with proper care it still isn't all that efficient), but also a heavy polluter. Burning your own trash for other reasons than power is fine, but to burn other's trash FOR power is just silly given that there are better power generating alternatives.

Japan does it more out of necessity than anything else: Space is always an issue in Japan.

Is Sweden bad at anything relevant?

Most everyone outside of the US burns garbage to generate power - for one thing, it reduces the volume that needs to be buried in a landfill by about 90 percent, and space for landfills is at a premium in places like Japan and Europe.

*sigh* We need this here in Canada.

Makes sense, I guess countries such as Canada are so big we can keep dumping our waste pretty much anywhere we want

Still burning it would be good IMO. Countries like Japan and I am sure Sweden have the tech to make sure it isn't polluting everything. After all they recycle the majority of the waste and I am sure they aren't buring toxic deadly things.

Depends on your definition of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surstr%C3%B6mming.

Personally, I have always wanted to try that.

The best way to open a can is under water, I'm told.

We dont burn waste, its coal or hydro.

It's not like you came up with this plan lol.

The description makes me think that would wreak havoc on my digestive system due to several of my conditions. Put it on the burn it with fire garbage list okay thanks.

Doing so requires both a strong commitment by the government AND people. There are certain communities in the US that do it quite well, but without both the government and people working to make it work, it doesn't work out nearly as well. Which is why places like the US and Canada just throw it in a pit: far easier to do when you have the space (unlike Japan and many places in Europe). From an energy perspective it's not all that great, being slightly less efficient than wood burning for power generation (which isn't good either, hence not done on a large scale) IIRC. That's why I think Sweeden would be better off investing in alternative power generation methods than importing such a low-quality power source.

You're forgetting one key - other countries are PAYING Sweden to take their trash - They are getting paid to accept free fuel...

I don't know about Canada, but there are a few waste-to-energy facilities in the US; one of them is about an hour's drive or so from where I live (I don't get power from it, though - they sell their power to another utility). It's just not a major source of electricity overall. The air pollution problem is easily solved with the right controls, but they are very costly. It's just more cost effective in Canada and the US to bury it all.

It's not free fuel given how much Sweden has to spend on trapping the pollutants.

The best thing to do in the long-run would be to use the money their getting now in the short run to invest in better energy technologies (which I'd be surprised if they weren't doing).

I'm very fond of Scandinavian delicacies, but I haven't had the opportunity to try surstr?mming yet. I'd love to give it a try. I do know that only a fool would open the can inside a house, and the best way is indeed to open it outside, and under water. Apparently some airlines have banned it, because they fear it might be explosive. Poor herrings...

From what I've heard it's actually pretty good, very unlike its overwhelming smell.

Also, thanks, Sweden, for taking our trash.

That's okay - you can have mine.

Is it anything like lutefisk? My great-grandmother used to make that. The smell was unimagineable.

This is actually a false article, Everyone knows Sweden has no garbage because Ikea throws random things together in a box and falls it furniture.

Sweden, why you so awesome?

To repeat what has been said a few times already, we need this in Canada.

I've actually never had lutefisk either; it was never a part of our traditional dishes in my family, and I haven't exactly sought it out myself. I'll definitely give it a go when I get the opportunity, though.

Posted: 09/12/2012 10:56 am

What breaking news!

I don't know how you could possibly choose between fermented herring and lye-cured whitefish.