Sweden
The material footprint satisfying societal needs
Figure three show s an x-ray of Sweden’s economy: the resources that feed into meeting key societal needs.
Domestic extraction
The Figure above builds on the schematic material footprint diagram in Figure one (shown on Material flows and footprints). It dives into the socioeconomic metabolism of Sweden; linking how four resource groups (minerals, metal ores, fossil fuels and biomass) satisfy the seven key societal needs and wants. From left to right, the figure shows the domestic extraction of resources (Take) which amounts to 265.3 million tonnes, through the mining of minerals and metal ores, or the production of agricultural crops for food or forestry to produce timber for construction, for example. These extraction processes result in raw materials like wood or sand. However, in a national context, domestic extraction represents only one of the inputs to the economy, which also includes directly imported products, weighing up at 90.3 million tonnes. Re-exports—products that are imported and without any processing are exported again—do not make up a significant part of Swedish imports and therefore are not explicitly quantified in this study.
Material footprint
Considering not just the direct imports, but also the Raw Material Equivalents (RMEs), as previously introduced on page 26, we see that Sweden imports 39.8 million tonnes of RMEs for a total import footprint of 130.1 million tonnes. The virgin materials typically undergo processing (Process), for example in the production of metals from ores, cement from limestone, or refined sugar from beets. Subsequently, these refined materials can be used for the manufacturing (Produce) and assembly of products like automobiles from metals, plastics and glass, or the construction of roads and houses. These finished products can, in turn, be distributed and delivered to provide services (Provide) and access to products that can satisfy societal needs and wants locally or be exported. In 2017, Sweden exported some 89.6 million tonnes of final products with an associated RME of 48.3 million tonnes, resulting in an absolute export footprint of 137.9 million tonnes.
Waste generation
Essential to identifying and addressing opportunities for a more circular economy is what happens to products and materials after their functional use in our economy (End-of-use). This is mostly related to the 257.5 million tonnes of raw material consumption: Sweden's consumption footprint. In Sweden, the total amount of physical waste generated amounts to 99 million tonnes, out of a total 169 million tonnes of Domestic Processed Output—the remainder of which comprises emissions, gases and dissipative flows. Of the total of physical waste, 6.6 million tonnes came from Products that Last and 29 million tonnes from short-lived Products that Flow.
Waste Management
Sweden's waste management system is well-equipped to handle small volume, high-value waste streams—such as common metals—while treatment of high volume, low-value waste streams such as minerals (for example, waste rock and tailings from mining operations) is suboptimal, with landfill representing the main option. For household waste, incineration remains prominent. Of the total 99 million tonnes of waste being treated, 8.3% are recycled, while the remainder is lost indefinitely. Of the latter, just 0.13% ends up incinerated (without energy recovery) while another 82.6% is landfilled, including extractive waste. Energy recovery plays a significant role: waste-to-energy represents 9% of waste management. Remarkably, about 90% of the waste generated stems from mineral extraction: when excluding extractive waste, the rate of recycling jumps from 8.3% to 28%, the rate of energy recovery jumps from 9% to just over 30%, while landfilling figures are slashed in half—41% (see more on extractive waste in the text box below). Aside from materials going to waste, 106.2 million tonnes of materials are added to stock (Net additions to stocks) in the form of capital investments such as buildings and infrastructure, machinery and equipment. Another 19.7 million tonnes are released into the environment as emissions mostly of fossil origin: this figure is relatively low, which confirms the low-carbon character of Sweden's economy. The remaining 5.2 million tonnes are dispersed into the environment as a deliberate, or unavoidable consequence of product use. This includes fertilisers and manure spread on fields, or salt, sand and other thawing materials spread on roads and the erosion of metals.
The Circularity Gap Report is an initiative of Circle Economy, an impact organisation dedicated to accelerating the transition to the circular economy.
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