Sweden has taken a lot of measures to encourage energy saving and recycling. The measures are also proved to be very effective. The following are some examples.
Green car sales increase in Sweden
A total of 55,000 new green cars were registered in Sweden in 2007, an increase of 49 per cent on the figure for 2006. This means that green cars accounted for 18 per cent of the total car market in Sweden. At the turn of the year there were 50 different green car models on the Swedish market.
"Sweden is showing the strongest growth in green car sales in the world", Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, said in a debate in Parliament recently.
"This is obviously in no small part due to the Swedish Government's introduction of the green car rebate, raised carbon dioxide taxes and a push towards a new and sustainable transport system", Sweden's Minister for Enterprise and Energy Maud Olofsson added.
The most common type of green cars sold in 2007 was ethanol driven (11.5 per cent of all sold cars). Green cars also include cars powered by gas (0.6 per cent), hybrid cars (1.1 per cent) and petrol or diesel cars that emit less than 120 grams CO2 per kilometre (6.6 per cent). A total of 307,000 new cars were sold in Sweden in 2007.
The Swedish Government introduced a rebate of SEK 10,000 or about 1700 US dollars for individuals who buy a new green car at the beginning of 2007. The rebate scheme will continue until 31 December 2009.
In Sweden, the term "green car" means:
Conventional cars: Petrol and diesel cars with carbon dioxide emissions not exceeding 120 grams/km.
Alternative fuel cars: Cars that can run on fuels other than petrol or diesel and with fuel consumption not exceeding 0.92 litres petrol/10 km, 0.84 litres diesel/10 km or 0.97 cubic metres gas/10 km.
Electric cars: A passenger car that meets environmental class Mk EL and has an electric energy consumption not exceeding 3.7 kilowatt hours/10 km.
Increased recycling in Sweden
In 2006, recovery in Sweden increased to 81 per cent, compared to 56 per cent in 2005. Of the recovery in 2006, 58 percent concerned material recycling and 23 percent energy recovery. In 2006, Sweden met not only the EU's current targets, but also the new targets that will apply from 2008. The recycling rate in Sweden is the highest for glass packaging, which is 91 per cent. The results are calculated according to the European Commission's Packaging Directive.
Also in 2006, a tax was introduced in Sweden on waste incineration for energy utilization, partly with the aim of increasing the recycling of plastics in particular, reducing carbon dioxide emissions and increasing heat and power generation.
Increased recovery of cardboard in particular and also of metals is considered overall to have resulted in huge reduction in emissions in various industrial sectors.
Sweden reports five categories of recovery- glass, plastic, paper, metal and wood. The EU's recovery target is for between 50 and 65 per cent of packaging waste to be recycled through material recycling or energy recovery.
More public bodies in Sweden have guidelines on green procurement
Four out of every five public bodies in Sweden have guidelines on consideration of the environment in the procurement of goods and services. This is revealed by a survey commissioned by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency among 21 county councils, 290 municipalities and 216 government agencies.
"It's pleasing to discover that more and more public bodies are introducing guidelines on environmental requirements in procurement. Setting environmental requirements is an effective way of reducing climate impact," says Tomas Chicote, who is project leader at the Swedish EPA.
All the county councils, 72 per cent of the government agencies and 82 per cent of the municipalities have adopted guidelines on consideration of the environment in the procurement of goods and services.
Public procurement in Sweden amounts to an annual sum of almost SEK 500 billion or about 80 billion US dollars. The latest Swedish Climate Bill states that "requirements can be set for goods and services in public procurement so that they contribute to reduced carbon dioxide emissions".
"It's important that information on the Environmental Management Council's work reaches everyone involved in procurement. The Council also offers advice over the phone," says Chicote.
Another step taken by the Government is to tighten the requirements for the proportion of green cars in public procurement and leasing of cars by central government from 75 per cent to 85 per cent. In addition, the Government is introducing a requirement that at least 25 per cent of emergency vehicles have to be green vehicles.
By Xuefei Chen, People's Daily Online's correspondent in Stockholm
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