Swedish Environmental Policy

Swedish Environmental Policies History and present regulations

Report 3 of the BEE project, 2007

BalticEnvironmentand Energy


Page

1. Historical background 51.1 The Awakening 61.2 International Conferences 71.3 The Power of the Consumer some examples 71.4 Important Environmental Campaigns 8

2. The Environmental Legislation in Sweden 112.1 The Swedish Environmental Code aims and general rules 112.2 Relations between the EU and the Swedish Environmental Regulations 122.3 Milestones in the EU Work for Sustainable Environmental Development 122.4 Some Important Parts of the EU Environmental Legislation 13

3. The Swedish Environmental Administrative Organisation Supervision and Authorisation 143.1 Environmental Protection and Public Health 143.2 Animal Protection and Environmental Impact of Agriculture 163.3 Food Control 163.4 Financing of Monitoring, Control and Supervision 163.5 Working Conditions for the Environmental Inspectors 17

4. National Objectives for the present Swedish Environmental Policies 184.1 National Level 184.2 Regional Level Skne Region 214.3 Local Level Burlv Municipality 224.4 An Example from the Practice SYSAV 24

5. Checklist for Creating Environmental Objectives and Programmes 26

Some references 27Appendix 1: Ljungby Municipality some facts and other information 28Appendix 2: Policy for Sustainable Development, Ljungby Municipality 33Appendix 3: A flow diagram of a standard sewage treatment plant 37

Table of Contents

Report 3 of the BEE project, 2007 3

The BEE project is a very special or unusual Interreg III B project since it is a bilateral cooperation project between Russian (Kaliningrad Region) and Swedish (South Sweden) partners in an Interreg III B programme context of supporting multilateral cooperation projects. It is implemented under the programme measure 3:2 Bilateral maritime cooperation across the Baltic Sea, which was added as a new measure to the programme as late as 2005.

A main idea behind the project is to further develop the fruitful bilateral cooperation since the early 1990th between public parties of the Kaliningrad Region and South Sweden, but now developing the support approach into cooperation on more equal conditions, with the aim of creating win-win conditions for all involved parties.

Important problems that have been tackled within the project are the lack or deficit of practice oriented, sustainable education methods and practises of friendly environmental attitudes in both countries, as well as how to develop methods for good management and capacity building for handling mainly environmental issues.

This report contains a brief summary of the development of Swedish environmental policies during the last 40-50 years and some of the present central pillars of the policies, including relations to the EU environmental policies. The content has been closely discussed between the Russian and Swedish parties of the BEE project in order to in the first hand be of interest for Russian readers to understand how central cornerstones of environmental policies could be developed.

The main contributor of the report is Mr Niklas Hansson, the Regional Council of Southern Smland, in close cooperation with Mr Ingemar Frejdh, the Municipality of Eksj, Mrs Linda Hellberg, the Municipality of Burlv, and Mr Rolf A Karlson, Project Coordinator of the BEE project. The main Russian project partner AMOKO has been actively contributing with comments on what is of special value to describe to be of interest for Russian readers.

The report has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union and Sida. The content of the report is though the sole responsibility of the lead partner of the project - The Regional Council in Kalmar County, Sweden - and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union or Sida.

Kalmar and Kaliningrad in December 2007

Rolf A Karlson Anastassia KuznetsovaProject Coordinator Russian Co-coordinator of the BEE project of the BEE project

Preface


In todays Sweden the environmental problems are discussed in media on a daily basis. The same situation is prevailing in most other EU member countries, in the USA and in many other post-industrial countries, but also in many other countries around the world in different stages of development. The news often include alarming reports about the not so welcome changes in the weather that scientists have found to be caused by global warming.

The Swedish national environmental objectives are important guidelines and goals for authorities and politicians to reach. But also in principle every Swedish company is working with environmental issues in different forms. In schools the environment is an important subject. Public knowledge and consciousness in Sweden concerning different environmental problems are therefore generally at a very high level in an international context. However, this has naturally not always been the case.

It was not until the early 1960th that the environmental awareness in Sweden started to shift from preservation of nature towards a focus on the negative impact of the industrial development. The American debate book Silent Spring (that among other things highlighted the issue of birds dying in large numbers due to the increasing use of pesticides) functioned as an alarm-clock. The use of toxic substances, such as DDT, and pollution from the industries started to seriously affect the nature and the human health. The political debate that followed in Sweden resulted in the establishment of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency in 1967. The first Environmental protection Act came into force 1969 and remained intact until early 1990th. According to this Act a permit was required to start an industrial plant and the Act also regulated levels of emission for different kinds of industries, as well as demands on physical localisations of them.

In 1976 there was a big environmental scandal in Sweden when it was discovered that the chemical factory BT Kemi had dumped and buried some 800 barrels with toxic chemical waste into the ground in Skne in southern Sweden. People living nearby were scared and environmentalists and politicians were furious.

Other environmental disasters that got a lot of attention in the newspapers and TV, and affecting peoples opinions, were the large toxic chemical accident in the Italian town Seveso in 1976, the nuclear accident in Harrisburg in the USA 1979, the extraordinary toxic chemical gas release catastrophe in Bhopal in India in 1984, and the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in the former USSR in April 1986. The nuclear disaster at Chernobyl gave huge headlines in Sweden since it affected (and still do) rather large areas in the middle and northern parts of Sweden.

1. Historical background


In the 1980th a number of other kinds of severe environmental problems were to be recognised. The use of fossil fuels for heating and in the transportation sector led to huge emissions of nitrogen and phosphorous oxides into the air. The result was to become known as acid rain that in the end destroyed e.g. many lakes and damaged a large number of buildings.

The discharge of untreated sewage from urban areas and the additional leakage of fertilizers from the farming sector led to eutrophication of the waters. The fishermen complained that the fish and crabs were disappearing in certain areas. The eutrophication resulted in overgrowth of plankton and the following decay of the dead plankton ended with lack of oxygen that gave us dead bottoms of the sea. The process of chlorine bleached paper generated toxic dioxin and the diffuse distribution of PCB should also be mentioned as very important problems.

In the 1990th two new environmental threats became widely known to the public. The ozone layer that protects the surface of the earth from dangerous UV radiation showed signs of damage. Scientists explained that chlorinated substances used as refrigerants, such as Freon, depleted the ozone layer.

The total use of fossil fuels in the world gave away huge emissions of CO2 into the air. The atmosphere is transparent to the visible solar radiation that heats the surface of the earth. Part of the solar radiation is reflected back as infra-red heat radiation from the surface into the atmosphere, and CO2 helps to absorb the outgoing heat radiation and functions as a heat trap. This phenomenon is called the greenhouse effect. Scientists warns that in the long run the gradual increase of the global temperature will melt the ice masses of the two poles which will raise the level of the sea and flood lowland coastal areas. A warmer climate also causes dramatic changes of our weather conditions harder storms and rainfalls in some areas, dryer climate and spread of deserts in others.

1.1 The Awakening

The general awareness in Western Europe and Sweden grew fast during the 1970th, 80th and 90th as the environmental problems resulted in alarming headlines and news in the mass media. Science and monitoring showed that these problems were to be taken seriously otherwise the environment and our whole existence would be at risk in the long run.

Ordinary people demanded that the political parties should work for a better environment and acceptable conditions for human health. It became necessary for politicians in Sweden to include environmentally friendly arguments in their political agendas in order to win votes. Environmentally friendly words were to be used as weapons in the political discussions.

Acid rain killed many lakes in Sweden and scientists begun to search for the reasons why. The large and sparsely populated country of Sweden with relatively few cities and industries could hardly produce all these pollutions. It was soon to be realised that emissions and pollution did not stop at any national border and instead travelled long distances with air and water and even across the whole globe. The spread of radioactive pollution from Chernobyl is one example of this.

For many countries around the world it was obvious that most environmental problems could not be solved at a national level and therefore international cooperation and agreements were the only way to tackle these problems.


1.2 International Conferences

The first United Nation (UN) environment and development conference was held in Stockholm 1972, and it was to become an important milestone in international cooperation within the environmental field. The Conference in Stockholm was the first occasion when attention was drawn to the need of preserving natural habitats to produce a sustained improvement in living conditions for all, and the need for international cooperation to achieve this.

Another important milestone was the Brundtland Commissions report from 1987 that defined sustainability to be a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The report also took economical and social aspects into consideration.

The Earth Summit conference in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro a follow up of the Stockholm conference 20 years earlier was another milestone in the international cooperation about environmental issues. Twenty years after the first global environment conference, the UN sought to help Governments rethink economic development and find ways to halt the destruction of irreplaceable natural resources and pollution of the planet. A central result of the conference was the adoption of Agenda 21, a wide-ranging blueprint for actions to achieve sustainable development worldwide through actions on international, national, regional and local levels.

During 1997 another environmental milestone was reached when the much needed Kyoto Protocol was negotiated and later signed by nearly every country on earth. Finally an agreement had been reached that could reduce the CO2 emissions to stop the process of global warming caused by the greenhouse effect. Russia signed and ratified the protocol in 2004, but sadly the worlds largest CO2 producer USA, has not ratified the treaty.

In December 2007, at the climate conference in Bali, a time table was set for the negotiating process of reducing the greenhouse gases after the Kyoto protocol ends in 2012. A compromise was reached about the need of deep cuts in global emissions to avoid dangerous climate changes - an agreement that even the USA accepted.

If international agreements are to be effective at all, every country that has signed a treaty must ratify it into its own national legislation and environmental policies. In the end there is of course the huge task of making practice out of theory for the politicians and other decision makers. Without competition the last step is the hardest!

1.3 The Power of the Consumer some examples

In the 1980th it became fashionable for ordinary people to buy chlorine free paper. For a conscious and modern family, or company, it was natural to buy such paper. Soon this movement started to steer the paper mills into changing their methods of production into chlorine free bleaching processes and thereby meeting the demands of the modern consumers. It started to be a competitive advantage to produce environmentally friendly products and the advertising companies were soon to follow.

The Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) named the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) played an important role in this positive development. Its number of members continued to grew each year as a result of the environmental awareness. SSNC also started its own independent

system of labelling environmentally friendly products to make it easier for the consumers to make the environmentally correct choices. Again, this labelling system played an important role in steering the industrial production towards phosphate-free detergents.

The symbol Svanen (The Swan) is used as an indicator to help the consumer to choose an environmentally friendly product. The other symbol, Bra Miljval (A good environmental choice) is in the shape of a falcon. The NGO SSNC has developed this symbol to help consumers to choose a product that is friendly for the environment in a broader perspective than the Swan.

Another environmental occurrence that really got started in the 1990s was the recycling and saving of materials and energy. What was previously considered garbage, now turned into possible valuable resources. In short terms, the development of recycling follows the same pattern as the one for chlorine free paper. Children were taught in schools that recycling was very good for the environment. The younger generation adopts new habits and ideas easier than older ones, and there are many stories to be told about children having taught their parents how to recycle. Recycling, for instance of glass bottles, metal cans and paper soon became a part of normal life in the Swedish households.

The most environmentally friendly product is the one that do not have to be produced at all. Saving on energy became more and more important. The less energy and electricity that is used, the less CO2 emissions. The idea of saving energy and materials also helped many companies to reduce their costs and increase their profit. These are further examples of some important ways to reduce the impact on the environment.

1.4 Important environmental campaigns

Already in 1938 the Swedish author and journalist Ludvig Nordstrm released a number of reports in the Swedish national public radio called Dirty Sweden, documenting the very low standard of living conditions and housing on the Swedish countryside. These reports were used to make authorities and people understand that something had to be done to better the situation. This was the start to better knowledge about good quality drinking water, good living conditions, need of waste water and garbage treatment and how in general to get a healthy life for the population.

In 1962 the campaign Keep Nature Clean started. The campaign was an initiative from the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation and the aim for the campaign was to change the populations attitude towards littering. The idea of the campaign was that if we early on in life learn to take care of our neighbourhood and not litter, there is a big chance that we develop a sustainable lifestyle and takes care


Svanen Bra Miljval

of the environment later on in life. Around the same time it was made compulsory by law to collect garbage from permanent and summer houses.

Another important campaign in Sweden tackling the same subject is the 19701974 campaign A Cleaner Society organized by the national committee Keep Sweden Clean together with county committees in all counties. In 1983 the same committee was established as a foundation by the Swedish National Environment Protection Board and Swedish Recycling (a company responsible for recycling of aluminium and plastic bottles used for soda and beer). The foundation at this point gets money for every recycled aluminium can. Between 1983 and 1990 the foundation runs two other successful campaigns Clean Roadsides and The Year of clean beaches and it also starts education for teachers in schools and kindergartens.

After the Agenda 21 meeting in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 Swedish communities became very active and started all kinds of environmental projects. Some examples are ecological schools, environmental teams of households and biological cleaning systems for waste water.

One of these campaigns is the Old-used-up cars campaign, also called dilapidated cars, that was run by Keep Sweden Clean between 2001 and 2007. The campaign was run in cooperation between Keep Sweden Clean and the insurance company Folksam and Swedish municipalities. The idea of the campaign was to make it easier for the public to get rid off old-used-up cars that was dumped in nature. The public could call the campaign and report an old-used-up car that would then be picked up free of charge. In total 130,000 cars were collected with big environmental benefits as a result.



2.1 The Swedish Environmental Code aims and general rules

The new Environmental Code replaced in 1999 a number of previous different environmental acts into a new, coordinated and more powerful legal tool. The aim of the Environmental Code is to promote sustainable development that ensures a healthy environmental impact on both the current and future generations. To achieve this aim, there are a number of general rules of consideration: Thecompany inquestionmustprovenot togenerate aharmful environmental impactnot theauthority! Theruleofknowledgethemanagementofacompanymusthaveenoughknowledgetorunthebusiness in an environmentally friendly way. Theprecautionaryruleitistheriskoffutureenvironmentalimpactthatmattersandnotonlytheactual environmental impact. BATonehastousetheBest Available Technology. Thelocalisationprinciplethelocalisationthatcausesthelowestimpactontheenvironmentandother physical resources should be chosen. The Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) is applied, which means that you pay for the damage your environmental impact causes. Theprincipleregardingresourcemanagementyoushouldusethenaturesresourcesinthemostefficient way including saving on water, energy and produce less waste materials. Theproductchoiceprincipleyoumustchooseenvironmentallyfriendlyproductsbeforethosewithgreater impact on the environment. Allthesegeneralprinciplesshouldbeusedinareasonablewaythecoststoimprovetheenvironmentmust be corresponding to the significance of the impact. There are also binding environmental quality standards that each municipality is obliged to both monitor and follow. These are specified for both water and air and will set a standard for the lowest quality of the environment that is acceptable. To make sure no infringements will happen, all who operate environmentally hazardous activities must show that they can meet the environmental quality standards.

Another major aim of the Environmental Code is to make those who run environmentally hazardous activities responsible for controlling their own activities enough to avoid any negative impact on the environment.

Regulations concerning different types of area protection, such as national parks, nature reserves, biotope protection and shoreline protection, have been brought together in the Environmental Code. Together with regulations regarding protection of species, the purpose is to preserve biological diversity.

2. The Environmental Legislation in Sweden


2.2 Relations between the EU and the Swedish Environmental Regulations

When Sweden joined the European Union (EU) on 1 January 1995, it was the culmination of a long period of integration and co-operation with the European Union countries. Important milestones along the road to membership included the 1972 Free Trade Agreement between Sweden and the European Community (EC) and the 1992 treaty establishing a European Economic Area.

Therefore, in 1995 when Sweden became member of the European Union, an adoption to the European Union legislation had already begun. The more practical work however, to create a new national Swedish environmental legislation begun a few years after Sweden became a full member of the EU. It is important to understand the global and European environmental history, such as international conventions and agreements along with the close bonds to the European Community, to comprehend the road to the new Swedish environmental legislation, The Environmental code.

The previous fifteen Swedish environmental acts were amalgamated into the new Environmental Code which became effective on 1 January 1999. All EC-Directives listed by the EC-Commission as applicable to the recommendation have been amalgamated into the Environmental Code and the Act on Measures to Prevent and Limit the Consequences of Major accidents (the Seveso Act). The above mentioned recommendation was established in 1997 and aims at setting up minimum criteria for organising, performing, following-up and publishing environmental inspections. It covers environmental inspections of all industrial installations, companies and facilities subject to authorisation, permit or licensing requirements under current EU environmental legislation. Swedens implementation is also fulfilled by the regulations in the Ordinance on Inspections and Enforcement according to the Environmental code.

Permit requirements in Sweden, however, also apply to a great number of activities not covered under the current EU legislation.

Environmental inspections and enforcement form an integrated part of Swedish environmental protection activities together with the application of the law which in turn aims at reaching sustainable development in accordance with the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty.

Sweden has also been proactive in integrating environmental considerations and the concept of sustainable development into the EU frameworks a task that was strengthened in the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty. At the meeting of the European Council in Cardiff in 1998 the transport, energy and agriculture sectors were charged with drafting strategies to integrate sustainable development into their respective fields. These were followed by the inner market, industry and development assistance at the Vienna conference in 1998, and the economic and financial, fisheries general affairs sectors in Cologne in 1999.

2.3 Milestones in the EU Work for Sustainable Environmental Development

Rio de Janeiro 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Sustainable development. Amsterdam 1997 Sustainable development is made one of EUs fundamental goals in the Treaty of Amsterdam. Prominence is given to the requirement of integration environmental considerations into other sectors.Cardiff 1998 The European Council urges the various constellations of the Council of Ministers to initiate efforts to integrate environmental considerations into their respective fields.


Helsinki 1999 The transition to sustainable development is reviewed and evaluated. The European Council decides that a cohesive strategy will be dealt with in Gteborg.Gteborg 2001 An agreement was reached adopting a strategy for sustainable development about four environmentally related objects; Climate change, sustainable transports, public health and the managing of natural resources. Barcelona 2002 An international dimension of the strategy of sustainable development was reached.Johannesburg 2002 a follow up from 1992 in Rio. EU and member states of UN commitment to a plan of implementation for sustainable development.2005 The start of EUs new greenhouse gas emission trading scheme. In 2005 the Kyoto protocol entered into force and the new European climate change programme was launched.

2.4 Some important parts of the EU environmental legislation

The Water Frame Directive According to the European Water Frame Directive it is a requirement that surface and ground water in EU should be brought to good ecological and good chemical status by 2015. The Water Framework Directive is the most significant piece of European water legislation to be produced over the last thirty years. Starting in 2004 it was to be effective in all member states including Sweden by 2005.

REACH Is a new regulatory framework for chemicals that was proposed in 2003 (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemical substances). The aim of REACH is to improve the protection of human health and the environment through the better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances. At the same time, innovative capability and competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry should be enhanced. The benefits of the REACH system will come gradually, as more and more substances are phased into REACH.

Recent examples of other EU Directives that has been transposed into the Swedish legislation are the Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Directive on the Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS). Both the RoHS and WEEE legislation was transposed into Swedish law by the Ministry of Sustainable Development. The enforcement body for the RoHS legislation is the Swedish Chemicals Inspectorate, KEMI, and for the WEEE legislation it is the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.


The role of the Environment Committee of the municipality (and its environment department), or at regional level the County Administrative Board (a regional state authority lead by a Governor), is to act both as a supervisory and decisive authority. Three main fields of work can be distinguished as the most important ones:Protectionoftheenvironmentandpublichealth,AnimalprotectionandEnvironmentalImpactofAgriculture,andFoodcontrol.The supervising has its base in the legislation, the Environmental Code. However, apart from being an authority, the supervisory authority also has an informative role.

3.1 Environmental Protection and Public Health

Activities with great environmental impact are classified into A and B and must have licenses to operate. The class A environmentally hazardous activities (for instance steel works and large ports) have greater impact than the class B and must have a licence from the Environmental Court of Law. The County Administrative Board is the issuing authority for the B licenses. Before starting an environmentally hazardous activity, one must make an application and prove that one meets the requirements of the general rules of considerations. The company must also prove that it will not risk any infringements of the environmental quality standards.

Simulations created by special computer programmes help to predict the future impact of environment of the activity. This information and other predictions based on known facts will serve as proof that the activity has an acceptable impact.

Licensing and supervision work is also to be steered by the national environmental objectives, specified in the form of regional and sector goals. This means that the licensing and supervision of activities and measures must take the goals of the environmental policies into consideration. Before authorisation by the County Administrative Board, the case of licensing must be sent as information to neighbours, the municipality and other organisations that might be concerned. They all have the right to comment. The right to comment and to make an appeal against the planned activity is quite strong in Sweden.

Those who intend to start any environmentally hazardous activity with less environmental impact, classified as C, is obligated by law to make a notification to the Environment Committee of the municipality before starting up. The Environment Committee will then authorise the company. In order

3. The Swedish Environmental Administrative Organisation Supervising and Authorisation


to make the authorisation process faster and smoother, the right of authorisation is often delegated by the Environment Committee to specific inspectors with defined expert competence.

Often the task of supervising environmentally hazardous activities, which requires a license by the County Administrative Board, is delegated to the municipality. However the municipality must meet some important requirements to get this delegation, such as competence and the correct organisation. Another task for the County Administrative Board is to be advisory to the supervision that the municipalities perform.

Most of the supervising is addressed toward companies with greater impact on the environment. Supervising is performed both by inspections on site and through evaluation of reports made by the companies. Companies with great environmental impact that require licences must send an annual environmental report to the supervisory authority. This report consists of a description of how the company meets the requirements in the licence, such as the precise regulations for outlet into air and water.

The Environmental Code puts the companies as responsible of control and monitoring of the impact on the environment or human health that they cause. All companies with environmentally hazardous activities must run a sufficient control of themselves. For companies with greater environmental impact, such as class B activity, there is an obligation to follow a control programme. This programme must get acceptance by the supervisory authority as sufficient when it comes to testing and monitoring of the environmental impact. The result of the monitoring is of course used to ensure the enforcement of the license and the Environmental Code in broad terms. In Sweden measuring and analyses are done by private enterprises. These private enterprises must have the necessary accreditation issued by the governmental authority Swedish Board for Accreditation and Conformity Assessment (SWEDAC) as a proof of their competence in the field. The accreditation obliges the enterprise to follow certain standards, like CEN (standards used within the European Union) and ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation), and thereby ensuring that the results are accurate.

Complaints made by citizens may also result in an inspection on site. The outcome of the inspection may result in legal actions against the company or a private citizen. The County Administrative Board or the Environment Committee of the municipality has the right by law to decide about legal actions, such as injunctions or prohibitions, against companies or private citizens who are responsible for infringements of the Environmental Code. One of the most effective ways of law enforcement is to address an injunction towards a company or a private citizen about fines if they fail to meet the requirements. For some defined infringements there are predetermined fines named environmental sanction charges. Suspected environmental crimes must without exception, according to the Environmental Code, be reported to the attorney.

Another task for the Environment Committee of the municipality is to authorise small applications for treatment of the household sewage. It has been proven that the leakage of nitrogen and phosphorous from private households located on the countryside also contributes to the eutrophication of the lakes and of the Baltic Sea.


3.2 Animal Protection and Environmental Impact of Agriculture

The Environment Committee in the municipality is responsible for the supervising in the field of animal protection. A special environmental and animal inspector performs the task of inspections and law enforcement of cattle and also of domestic animals, including pets. When medical examination of the animals is needed, a veterinarian is contacted. The County Administrative Board may after several reports about bad treatment of cattle or pets, address a prohibition to the owner from keeping animals in the future. To treat an animal bad is also a criminal act according to the Swedish legislation

Another important field of supervising is the environmental impact of agriculture. The main goal to be achieved by the supervision is to reduce the leakage of nutrients into groundwater, creeks and rivers. In practice these inspections are executed on site to ensure that the storing of manure is done in a proper way and that the spreading of manure on the fields is done during the right season of the year.

However it is also in the interest of the Environment Committee to prevent problems with infringements of the laws. The best way is to have good relations and frequent contacts with the farmers associations. Together with information about new laws and other adequate information this is most important. There can be a win-win situation between the authority and the farmers if successful cooperation and mutual understanding are created. The same of course goes for the environmentally hazardous activities and industries in general.

3.3 Food Control

Food control is another task performed by the municipalities on basis of national legislation. Before opening a restaurant, or a place of food production, one must file an application to the Environment Committee of the municipality which then authorise the company. To get a permission to run a restaurant, you must present the supervisory authority with a programme of control. This programme describes how the hygienic standards are ensured and how to meet the required frequency of analyses. The control programme must get acceptance by the supervisory authority.

Production of drinking water is also considered to be a production of food and must therefore meet the necessary requirements of hygiene, monitoring and control. To guarantee production and distribution of water within cities is the responsibility of the municipality. The body for the production and distribution could though differ from municipal departments to municipal owned companies. The Environment Committee is responsible for the supervising of the water plants and the distribution nets when it comes to hygiene and water quality.

Water production at a large scale is also considered an environmentally hazardous activity, meaning that the Environmental Code is applicable.

3.4 Financing of Monitoring, Control and Supervision

All companies and other activities that require a license, notification, authorisation or supervision must pay for the time and work done by the environmental authority. Companies with great environmental impact require much supervision and pay a fixed annual fee to the authorities. Smaller companies usually pay for the actual hours of the supervision. The same principle applies within the field of animal


protection and food control. This system of financing is in accordance with the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP). Even private citizens pay for the work done by the supervisory authority, such as permits for small applications for the treatment of household sewage.

In short; companies pay both for their own control and monitoring, and for the cost of the supervision done by the supervisory authority.

3.5 Working Conditions for the Environmental Inspectors

The job as an environmental inspector is a delicate balance between the role of being an authority, with all the obligations followed by this, and at the same time achieve good communication and relations with both companies, farmers and private citizens. What makes it easier though is that corruption, in general terms, is unusual in Sweden.

There is an ongoing discussion in Sweden concerning the appropriateness of letting the municipalities execute the supervision. The Environment Committees consist of politicians representing their political parties in relation to the outcome of the last elections. There have been cases of improper actions taken by Environment Committees, e.g. avoiding the obligation of reporting some criminal behaviour to the attorney and thereby favouring a company or a private citizen. It is obvious that any system could have disadvantages to some extent.


4.1 National Level

Sweden has often been a frontrunner in the work of improving the environment and bringing new topics up for discussion. One can say that the environment served as a political beacon during the 1980th and 1990th; casting its light on many topics and discussions.

With the previously described brief historical background and the broad international agreements, the Swedish Government realised in the early 1990th that a clean environment never could be reached without methodical work.

The need to set an action plan with fixed and feasible goals was obvious if the tremendous task of saving our environment and creating conditions for a sustainable development should be achieved. The Swedish Government decided to create a comprehensive environmental policy with the aim of solving all major environmental problems within one generation, which was set to be in 2020. The process of defining all areas important to the environment and the human health started in the beginning of the 1990th.

The environmental policy is based on five fundamental principles, and focuses mainly on the ecological aspects of the environment: Promotionofhumanhealth Preservationofbiologicaldiversity Preservationofculturalheritageassets Preservationofthelong-termproductionofcapacityofecosystems Wisemanagementofnaturalresources.The process resulted in the proposal of fifteen environmental objectives in 1995 with interim targets. The environmental objectives were adopted in 1999 by the Parliament. Later, in 2005, an additional sixteenth objective was adopted. These objectives are formulated as direct goals which are easy to understand. The environmental objectives function as guidelines for all environment-related development in Sweden. They also function as guidelines when applying the Environmental Code.

4. National objectives for the present Swedish Environmental Policies


The environmental objectives were formulated in course of a fruitful cooperation between elected representatives, public authorities, industry and environmental NGOs. This cooperation process is of great importance from a democratic and transparency point of view. It is really fundamental to ask all affected parties and take their arguments into consideration, before adopting important political issues or new legislation. Such a process gives guarantees for acceptance of the proposed new regulations from different interests in society, and thereby that the new guidelines or regulation will be respected in practice.

After establishing the objectives in 1999, an intense work on developing and implementing the objectives started. Governmental agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and The National Board of Housing, Building and Planning played important roles in this work.

Although the objectives are not forcing anyone to act (they are not legislation rules), they have been very successful at all levels in the society, giving an overall picture of our environmental problems and giving us a defined frame to work within. The objectives that are considered to be the most important to work with today, and that are the hardest to reach, is Reduced Climate Impact, A Non Toxic Environment and Zero Eutrophication.

Environmental objectives have to be reachable and realistic, also from an economic point of view, if we are going to have a chance to achieve them. Otherwise they might just become paper products for the book-shelves! They must of course also meet international agreements like the Kyoto Protocol.

4.1.1 Interim targets

Between 2001 and 2005, in a series of decisions, the Swedish Parliament laid down 72 interim targets to be reached in the near future, mainly before the end of 2010. These make the objectives more concrete, more powerful and easier to follow up. Examples of some interim targets of the objectives Zero Eutrophication and Reduced Climate Impact are given below:

1. Reduced Climate Impact2. Clean air3. Natural Acidification only4. A Non-Toxic Environment5. A Protective Ozone layer6. A Safe Radiation Environment7. Zero Eutrophication8. Flourishing Lakes and Streams9. Good Quality Ground water

10. A Balanced Marine Environment, Flourishing Coastal Areas and Archipelagos11. Thriving Wetlands12. Sustainable Wetlands13. A varied Agricultural Landscape14. A Magnificent Mountain Landscape15. A Good Built Environment16. A Rich Diversity of Plant and Animal Life.

The sixteen environmental objectives are:


4.1.2 Progress and follow-up

Every year the Environmental Protection Agency follows up the work with the objectives. This is reported in a way which is very easy to understand and overview with so called smilies:

Interim target 1, 2010 By 2010 Swedish waterborne anthropogenic emissions of phosphorus compounds into lakes, streams and coastal waters will have decreased by at least 20% from 1995 levels. The largest reductions will be achieved in the most sensitive areas.

Interim target 2, 2010By 2010 Swedish waterborne anthropogenic emissions of nitrogen compounds into sea areas south of the land Sea of the Baltic Sea will have been reduced by at least 30% compared with 1995 levels. Interim target 3, 2010By 2010 emissions of ammonia in Sweden will have been reduced by at least 15% com-pared with 1995 levels.

Interim target 4, 2010By 2010 emissions of nitrogen oxides to air in Sweden will have been reduced to 148,000 tonnes.

Interim target, 20082012As an average for the period 20082012, Swedish emissions of greenhouse gases will be at least 4% lower than in 1990. Emissions are to be calculated as carbon dioxide equiva-lents and are to include the six greenhouse gases listed in the Kyoto Protocol and defined by the IPCC. In assessing progress towards the target, no allowance is to be made for uptake by carbon sinks or for flexible mecha-nisms.

Zero Eutrophication: Reduced Climate Impact:

Current conditions, provided that they are maintained and the decisions taken are implemented in all essential respects, are sufficient to achieve the environmental quality objective/interim target within the defined time-frame.

The environmental quality objective/interim target can be achieved to a sufficient degree/on a sufficient scale within the defined time-frame, but further changes/measures will be required.

The environmental quality objective/interim target will be very difficult to achieve to a sufficient degree/on a sufficient scale within the defined time-frame.


4.1.3 Economy

The objectives are economically motivated by the fact that not doing anything will in the long run cost more for the society due to health effects, poorer crops, smaller catches in the fishery industry, floods, decomposing of buildings, etc. The committee forming the objectives calculated that the present pollution costs are over 20 billion SEK (2.2 billion EUR) every year, not taking the health effects into account. The costs for carrying out the objectives are approximated to 45 billions SEK for the whole period 20012010.

4.2 Regional Level Skne Region

4.2.1 Regional Objectives

The regional authorities have developed regional objectives, based on the national ones. The County Administrative Board in cooperation with the Regional Council, the Association of Local Authorities and the Forest Agency in Skne established Sknes Environmental Objectives and Environmental Action Programme in the year 2003.The regional objectives are used; asguidelinesinspatialplanning, insupervising/controlaccordingtotheEnvironmentalCode, tosupporttheenvironmentalauthoritiestoprioritisetheirwork, tostrengthenthepublicsandindustrysknowledgeandwork,and togivetheoverallenvironmentalworkageneralstructure.

4.2.2 The process

The Action programme took three years to establish and was created in a close and broad dialogue between working teams and experts from several different sectors of the society representing both the national, regional, municipal and private spheres. Sector committees were created with branch representatives from the sectors of transports and provisions. Before the programme was politically approved, it was referred for consideration to all the municipalities in the region, to several companies and to other stakeholders.

4.2.3 Measures

The regional objectives are mainly more concrete formulations of the national ones, but some interim targets differ, making them better adjusted to the conditions in the region. To fulfil the objectives a number of measures are added to the programme. The programme contains as many as 300 measures. These measures were carefully chosen, taken into consideration that they affect a big part of Skne, and cause great damage to the environment and peoples health. Every measure has a time limit aligned to it and also points out the responsible party performing the task in question.


One example of a measure belonging to the objective A Non-toxic environment (totally 34 measures) is: Informationaboutproduction,use,dischargestoandoccurrenceintheenvironmentisgatheredforparticularly dangerous substances. Performed by: the County Administrative Board, the municipalities and the industry, beginning in the year of 2004. Two examples of measures belonging to the objective Reduced Climate Impact (totally 24 measures) are: Atleasthalfoftheemployeesdrivingregularlyatworkshouldbeeducatedineco-driving(sparsefuel consumption). Performed by employers with more than 100 employees from the year 2004. Aclimateandenergy strategy is established, containingaprogramme for environmental adaptedtransports. Performed by the municipalities before 2008.

4.3 Local Level Burlv Municipality

Almost nine out of ten Swedish municipalities are working with environmental objectives. Over a third of them have produced and adopted their own local environmental objectives based on the national and regional ones. In order to support the municipalities, the County Administrative Board has published guidelines and is advising the municipalities in their work.

4.3.1 Creating Local Objectives and an Environmental Programme for Burlv

Burlvs Environmental Programme 20032008 was established in the year 2003, after more than a year of intense work. Several reports and investigations were used as background material. The overall aim with the programme is to set new goals and strategies for the municipality and its personnel within the area of environment, health and sustainable development.

When the programme was formed, mixed groups of representatives from different departments of the municipality participated and contributed with knowledge and their views. This made the programme deeply rooted in the organisation. The environmental strategist is responsible for the programme and its implementation. Parallel to this work an Agenda 21-education for the municipal politicians and personnel was performed, using the national environmental objectives as a base. The result from this education was taken into account when forming the programme. A questionnaire was also distributed to a selection of citizens of the municipality. Before any political decision concerning the programme was taken, it was communicated broadly within the municipal organisation, as well as with external parties. All viewpoints were considered, and some of them led to changes in the planned programme.

4.3.2 Local Objectives, Interim Targets and Measures

In Burlvs environmental programme local objectives, interim targets and measures have been established. The starting point has been the national and regional objectives and interim targets. To fulfil these targets a number of measures are included in the programme. For each measure a responsible committee/board is appointed together with a time limit of performance. Almost all departmentswithin the municipal organisation are involved; the environment department, the department of spatial


planning, the department of education, etc. Even the social department has measures to perform within the programme.

The programme is divided into 16 chapters, one for each objective. To every objective a background is given. The situation in Burlv is described, for example how the air quality is today, where the pollutants come from, the effects on the environment and peoples health, how to make the situation better, etc. After giving this background the interim targets and measures are presented.

Although all of the national objectives are included in the programme (excluding A magnificent mountain Landscape, since Burlv does not have any mountains), some objectives are more important than others. Burlv is situated in a very expansive part of Sweden, where almost every square meter is built on or used for highly productive agriculture. Therefore there are very little nature and parks left for recreation for citizens. The municipality is also crossed by two major highways and densely trafficked railways. This leads to problems with the air quality, noise and creates barrier effects. The objectives coping with these problems (Clean Air and A Good Built Environment) are therefore of special importance for Burlv, and big efforts are put to coop with these two objectives. Examples of measures in these areas are: Monitoringtheairquality. Decreasethetrafficintheinnerpartofthemainsettlementsbytrafficplanning,leadingthetraffic to the bigger roads outside the settlements. Improvingthepubliccommunications. Establishinganenergyplan. Guidanceforthecitizensandcompaniesonhowtosaveenergy. Changingalloldvehiclesusedinthemunicipalorganisationtovehiclesusingalternativefuels. Constructionoftwosmallerwetlandsusedforrecreationandnaturalcleaningofsmallriverwaters. Surveyofnoiseandpropositionsofmeasures.

4.3.3 Economy

An economic calculation was made for each measure in the programme and presented in the programme draft. When it was established in 2003, and the politicians in the municipal council agreed on the programme, they also agreed on financing the measures, knowing the approximate cost for realizing each of them. Every year the departments responsible for the different measures have to apply for financing in the yearly budget. This far, most measures have got the financial resources needed for them to be realized.

4.3.4 Progress and follow up

Every year a rapport is produced, following up the programme. Of the 67 measures in total, 51 have been initiated or even realized in the end of year 2006.


4.4 An Example from the Practice - SYSAV

SYSAV the Waste Management Company for southern Skne is owned by 14 municipalities concerned. One if them is Burlv. The company was established in 1974 and its business concept is To offer municipalities and companies environmentally friendly waste management and recycling, with the optimum utilisation of the wastes material and energy resources.

This means that protecting the eco-system through optimal waste management is at the very core of everything SYSAV does. The aim for all SYSAV actions is to ensure that as much waste as possible will be re-used. To ensure that this is the case, SYSAV uses many different methods. This broad, versatile approach enables the company to direct the right waste to the right form of treatment. From waste with high energy content heat and electricity are extracted. Garden and park waste becomes nutrient-rich compost and pre-packed soil. Construction and demolition materials are sorted and re-sold. Wood is shredded into chips and sold as pellet fuel. Only a smaller part of all waste is land filled.

Landfill gas is recovered from the bio gradable waste. SYSAV also deals with the municipalities hazardous waste for recycling, pre-treatment or further transport to another treatment company. Scrapped electric and electronic equipment is treated and the materials recycled at SYSAVs own unit. Through part-ownership SYSAV is also involved in paper and board recycling via the company AB Sydtervinning, and through GAB Syd AB in recycling of gravel, asphalt and concrete.

In 2006 the SYSAV Eco-cycle Plan 20062010 was adopted. The plan contains common targets for all owner municipalities. A working group for inter-municipality communication has also been established.


Things to think about when creating environmental objectives and programmes: Thestartingpointofcreatinganenvironmentalprogrammeistopointoutwhichthemajorlocalenvironmental problems are. These problems are naturally the most important ones to solve. What kind of values does the organisation (municipality, council, company, etc.) want to take care of and develop? Consider in what way the organisation can make a change and provide improvements for theenvironment. What kind of measures can be taken? Whichactors/operatorsshouldparticipateintheprogrammeactivities?Identifykeypersonswithinthe different organisations. Theremustbeabroadacceptanceof theprogrammewithin theparticipatingorganisations.Theobjectives and measures should not be forced upon any stakeholder. A successful and well implemented programme is formed in consensus with the participating parts. Persons responsible for financing the measures (politicians, directors, etc.) must agree on performing the measures within the set timetable for implementation. Theassignmentsmustbeclearandevident,leavingnorisksformisunderstandings.Before a political decision is taken, it must be broadly communicated with the citizens, organisations, companies and departments and administrations involved. Theobjectivesshouldbeformulatedinawaythatiseasilyunderstandabletoeveryone,forexample:Clean air and Reduced climate impact. Theobjectivesandinterimtargetsmustalsobeeasytofollowup,preferablywithdataorpercentages,forexampleAmaximumlevelofnitrogendioxideof60g/masanhourlymeanandof20g/masan annual mean will not be exceeded by 2010. Theobjectivesshouldbefollowedupeveryyear.When choosing measures, it should be taken into account which measures are the easiest to realize, which can bring most benefits to the environment and which measures are most cost-effective. Theprogrammemustbekept alive through continuouswork.One shouldnot settlewhen theprogramme is established and think - great, now we have a programme, let us move on to another task. There has to be action to fulfil the programme within the whole programme period, making the measures into reality. One person (or many persons in a bigger organisation) within the organisation should be responsible for the programme, reminding the different departments to fulfil the measures, and coordinating and doing follow-ups.

5. Checklist for Creating Environmental Objectives and Programmes


Some references:

Miljprogram 20032008, Burlvs kommun, 2003

Sknes miljml och miljhandlingsprogram, Lnsstyrelsen I Skne ln, 2003

SYSAV At the heart of the eco-cycle & Annual report 2006

www.ec.europa.eu/environment/index_en.htm

www.eea.europa.eu

www.internat.naturvardsverket.se/

www.miljomal.nu/english/obj7.php

www.miljomal.nu/

www.sweden.gov.se


Appendix 1

Ljungby Municipality some facts and other information

General FactsInhabitants: 28,000 inhabitants in the municipality of which 15,000 in the town of LjungbyArea: 2003 km2

Inhabitants/km2: 14.0 Labour market: A large percentage of the jobs are in the industrial sectorUnemployment rate: 2 % (one of the lowest in Sweden)

Responsibilities of the municipality environment and energyThe Environment, Building and Planning Office is responsible for: Supervisionandauthorisationofindustriesandenvironmentallyhazardousactivities Environmentalmonitoringandsupervisingtheuseofchemicals Animalprotectionandsupervisingtheagriculture Foodcontrol Healthprotection Urbanandruralplanning(residentialandindustrialareas) Generalplansforthewholemunicipalityconcerninglanduse,watermanagementetc. Buildingpermits(privatehouses,industriesetc.).

The Technical Office is responsible for e.g.: Collectingandcleaningthesewagewaterfromurbanareas1

Collectingalldomesticwaste(notfromindustries)2

Supplyofdrinking-water Managingofstreetsandparks.

Ljungby Energy is a heating and energy company owned by the municipality (although it is not the responsibility by law for the municipality to supply its citizens with district heating it is an important task for many municipalities) with the task to:Provide district heating for private homes, different institutions and industries in the town of Ljungby.

Organisation of the Ljungby Environment Department within the Environment, Building and Planning Office 1personisheadofthedepartment 4personsworkwithissuesregardingenvironmentallyhazardousactivities,permits,supervision, guidance and chemicals 1.5personsworkwithfoodcontrol(shops,restaurants,drinkingwater)

1 See Appendix 3 for a diagram of a sewage treatment plant flow diagram and the basic function of a standard sewage treatment plant in Sweden.2 See the text about Bredemad recycling station and Ljungsjverket below in Appendix 1


1personworkwithanimalprotectionandagriculture 0.5personworkwithhealthprotection 1personfunctionasadministrativesupporttotheothers

Examples of activities that the Environment Office supervises 21largeenvironmentallyhazardousenterprises(industries,sewagetreatmentworks,etc.) 250smallenvironmentallyhazardousenterprises(repairshops,garages,plasticsindustries,lacquering) Permitsforcleaningfacilitiesofdomesticsewage Environmentalmonitoring(measuringofairparticles,etc.) Foodcontrol(38foodstores,120restaurants,17waterpurificationplants) 500farms,ofwhich400haveanimals Healthprotectionandindoorenvironment(forexample50schoolsand60hairdressers).

A study visit in Ljungby municipality within the BEE projectA short summary of a guided study visit in the municipality of Ljungby on the 9th of May 2007 in connection to one of the bilateral conferences within the BEE project.

The best way to learn about the responsibilities and work in the municipality, as well as how the Swedish environmental legislation works, is to make a study visit on site. The Russian participants started with a visit to the Town Hall in Ljungby. The municipality of Ljungby is situated in the county of Kronoberg and has a very big area for being a single municipality.

Kronoberg is a region with dense forests and many big lakes. The industrial sector is very large and a large percentage of the jobs are in this sector.

The municipality of Ljungby has a lot of responsibilities when it comes to the environmental field. The environmental office consists of 9 employees. It might seem like a huge staff for a municipality with less than 30,000 inhabitants but the size is necessary to monitor and supervise all of the companies, farms and restaurants.

One environmentally hazardous activity the environmental office is supervising is the municipal sewage treatment plant. The technical office in the municipality is the responsible office in charge of operating the plant. The sewage treatment plant serves the town of Ljungby and some smaller urban areas that are connected by pipes. By law the municipality has to collect and clean the sewage from the inhabitants but not from the industries. However in many cases, the industrial waste water is connected to the sewage treatment plant but to an additional cost for the concerned company. Every municipality in Sweden has to provide this kind of service. During the period 19601980 a lot of plants were built all over Sweden thanks to very generous subsidies from the Swedish Government. The Russian participants appreciated the study visit to the sewage treatment plant.

The Bredemad recycling station is situated nearby the Bredemad land fill. According to the environmental legislation it is an obligation for the municipalities to collect the household waste and arrange facilities for the inhabitants to leave both conventional waste and dangerous waste for

disposal.


Influx into Ljungby sewage treatment plant coarse material removal and primary sedimentation

Secondary treatment in Ljungby sewage treatment plant Bio active basin and sludge sedimentation and removal


The newly built Bredemad recycling station is constructed to support easy recycling of different materials at stations with clear signs. It is built in a spacious way to make the procedure smooth and practical. The recycling station is built with a roof that serves two purposes. The roof protects the citizens that leave items for recycling and the collected materials from getting wet. During the process of construction, measures were taken to make it attractive and easy to recycle for the inhabitants. It is also free of charge for the citizens to dispose items for recycling.

The environmental legislation makes it nowadays very hard to dump materials at the land fill. In average 87 % of all waste in todays Sweden is recycled. The recycling starts in the domestic area where different materials are placed in different bags and bins. The fraction called domestic waste is used for heat and energy recycling in the waste incineration plant Ljungsjverket.

Welcoming personnel at Bredemad recycling station. Notice how spacious the area is and the roof. It is important to make it easy and attractive to recycle in order to motivate the inhabitants to recycle even more.


After the visits to the sewage treatment plant and the land fill with the connected recycling station, it was time to visit Ljungby Energy and Ljungsjverket. Ljungsjverket is the district heating and energy plant in the municipality of Ljungby. Ljungby Energy is a company owned by the municipality. The household waste from the inhabitants in the municipality, including the household waste from four nearby municipalities, is collected and incinerated at Ljungsjverket. The produced hot water is initially stored in an insulated tank. The hot water will later be distributed to the district heating pipe net. The heating plant produces heat from incinerating household waste mainly during the cold season. In the summer months ordinary wood fuel is used. In order to use household waste as fuel, the plant has to be equipped with a first class filter to remove the fly ash and all its harmful components such as dioxin and heavy metals. For this purpose, a mixture of active carbon and semi-dry lime is used. This mix is sprayed into the smoke tubes and separated in an advanced filter. Instruments are used to monitor the emissions continuously to ensure that the legal environmental permit is followed. The accepted level of emissions is very low, and the process must be run in the optimum way to meet the requirements in the permit.

Ljungsjverket, the district heating plant in Ljungby seen from distance.


Appendix 2

Policy for Sustainable Development, Ljungby Municipality

Ljungby municipality also has a local environmental programme and it is a bit different from the one of Burlv. Ljungbys policy concerns sustainable development, which includes environmental objectives but also other aspects.

The Policy for Sustainable Development was decided by the municipal council 29 March 2007. The policy is supposed to function as a guide for the municipality so that it supports a development that is ecologically, economically and socially durable. The ecological system sets the frames for what can be done, the economy is the means to achieve what the political leadership wants and social durability a good life is the goal.

The policy is divided into two parts: what should be done and how?

Ljungby municipality will: workforasustainableandpositivedevelopmentwithcreativity,diversityandsecurityfor inhabitants and businesses, striveforagoodandhealthyenvironmentforthecitizens,animalsandplantstodayandinthefuture, createaresource-efficientecocycleandincreasetheusageofrenewableenergysources, protectandpreservevaluablenatureandculturalheritageareas, worktoachievethenationalenvironmentalobjectives, worktoachievethenationalpublichealthobjectives,and beagoodexampleandacredibleparticipantintheworkforasustainabledevelopment.

Ljungby municipality will achieve the objectives by; municipalobjectivesforsustainabledevelopmentthatareinlinewiththenationalpublichealth objectivesandthenationalandregionalenvironmentalobjectives, amunicipalplanforsustainabledevelopment, stepbystepimprovethemunicipalactivitiesfromasustainabledevelopmentperspective, directivestoeverymunicipaldepartmenttoincludesustainabledevelopmentintheireverydaywork, astrategyforsustainableconsumption/purchases, followupandevaluationoftheworktoachievesustainabledevelopment, investmentdecisionsbasedonalifecyclecost1

givingspaceforaddedcostsduetoenvironmentalqualitiesandsocialaddedvaluewhenbuying offereducationinsustainabledevelopment.

1 Lifecycle cost includes the total cost for the investment during the expected length of life, including repayments by instalments, interest costs and costs for use and management.


Ecologically sustainable

Economically sustainable

Socially sustainable

Good air

Toxic free environment

Limited climate impact

Municipal finances

Economic and social security

Good and secure conditions for a good childhood

Increased health in the workplace

Reduced usage of tobacco and alcohol

Particle discharge in the town of Ljungby

Purchased food should be ecological and/or fair-trade products

Contaminated areas

Marginal value for cadmium, lead, and mercury in sludge from the municipal sewage treatment works

Purchase of provisions from local farmers

Fossil carbon dioxide outlet (excluding peat and waste)

Net costs share of revenues

Protect own capital against inflation

Homes on social allow-ance should be down to 2003 years level

Children in homes on social allowance

Unemployment rate down to 2002 years level

Children that never perceive themselves as being bullied in school

Sick leave (average days for men and women)

Youth in 8th grade that dont use tobacco

Youth in 8th grade that never been drunk

15 g per m3 of air as a yearly average.

30 g as a daily average

10 %

4 areas should be taken care of

< 25 %

50%

3.5 ton/capita

99 %

Consumer price index 0.6 %

2 %

4 %

2 %

91 %

34

95 %

90 %

No known value

< 2 %

Drarp crome & nickel and the sawmills of Bolmen, Lidhult and Ljungby (2006)

41 %

4.0 ton/capita (2004)

98.6 % (2005)

2.2 % (2005)

Issue Key figure Objective2010

Recent/lastknown value

2.6 % (2004)

4.4 % (2004)

2.4 % (2005)

88 % (2005)

45 (2003)

91 % smoking, 93 % snuff (2006)

69 % (2006)

2 Here are some examples from the matrix presented. The whole matrix includes more issues and objectives.

To make the policy more concrete a matrix2 with issues, key figures and objectives has been created.


Only natural acidification

No eutrophication

Well build environment

Consumption of electricity should be reduced by 10% com-pared to 1995

Renewable electricity in municipal organisa-tions

pH-value in the watersystems of Krokn, Skrsjn and Agunnarydssjn

Phosphorus content in lakes

Domestic waste that gets burned should be reduced to 2001 years level

Recycled packages

Collected hazardous waste

11 MWh/capita

100 %

pH>=6.0


Appendix 3

A flow diagram of a standard sewage treatment plant- as in the municipality of Ljungby

Explanations to the flow diagram:

1. Raw sewage incoming pipe with raw sewage from households and industries.2. Pump stations.3. Fine bar screens a screen that removes large floating objects, such as rags, cans, bottles paper, plastics and sticks that may clog pumps, small pipes, and downstream processes. The screens vary from coarse to fine. The coarse materials are usually removed by an automatic system. 4. Collection of coarse materials in a container the separated coarse materials will later be sorted or deposited at a landfill.5. Sand and grit removal after the waste water has been screened it may flow into a grit chamber where sand, grit, cinders and small stones settle to the bottom. Large amounts of grit and sand entering a treatment plant can case serious problems, such as excessive wear of pumps, clogging of aeration devices, or just taking up capacity in tanks that is needed for treatment.6. Primary sedimentation with the screening completed and the grit removed, wastewater still contains dissolved organic and inorganic constituents along with suspended solids. Pollutants that


are dissolved or are very fine and remain suspended in the wastewater are not removed effectively by gravity settling. When wastewater enters a sedimentation tank, it slows down and the suspended solids gradually sink to the bottom. This mass of solids is called primary sludge. Some plants use systems that remove the solids continuously.7. Secondary treatment; Bio active basin after the wastewater has been through the primary treatment process, it flows into the next stage of treatment called secondary. Secondary treatment processes can remove up to 90 % of the organic matter in the wastewater by using biological treatment process. In this process fine bubbles of air are pumped into the wastewater. This process speeds up the work of the aerobic bacteria that break down the organic matter and converts the ammonium nitrogen to nitrates. Some biological treatment processes called Biological Nutrient Reduction (BNR) can also achieve nutrient reduction, removing both nitrogen and phosphorus. Most of the BNR processes work so that the bacteria in these systems convert nitrate nitrogen into inert nitrogen gas and trap the phosphorus in the solids that are removed from the effluent. The activated sludge process pumps back bio active sludge that speed up this process even further. 8. Clarifier and sludge removal from the aeration tank, the treated wastewater flows to a sedimen - tation tank (secondary clarifier), where the excess biomass is removed. Some of the biomass is recycled to the aeration tank as activated sludge. 9. Discharge of treated sewage into water frequent samples of the effluent water is taken to certified laboratory analyses to ensure that the legal permit as an environmental hazardous activity is followed. The environmental authorities at Ljungby municipality get an annual report from the municipality technical office with the results of the analyses. 10. Activated sludge process the most common option uses micro organisms in the treatment process to break down organic material with aeration and agitation, then allowing solids to settle out. The mix of bacteria and settled sludge is called activated sludge. Activated sludge with a high content of bacteria is continually re-circulated back to the aeration basin to increase the rate of bacteria activity and organic decomposition. 11. Sludge thickener to improve the dewatering process usually a polymer is added to make the sludge thickened by creating bigger particles that are easier to remove. 12. Bio digestion a very economical process where methane is produced, recovered and concentrated and used as an energy source. The process of digestion also stabilizes the sludge by removing odour and harmful bacteria.13. The methane gas, called Bio gas, can be used for heating, production of electricity or used for a local bus fleet. In some medium size Swedish towns the amount of produced methane gas is sufficient to run the local bus fleet. When this bio gas is used as an energy source the resulting carbon dioxide outlet does not contribute to the greenhouse effect like fossil fuels.14. Bio solids storage before being placed in the storage the sludge is usually dewatered to make it more usable. 15. Bio solids for different use, such as fertilizers and soil substance for pot plants and golf courses.

BalticEnvironmentand Energy

Project part-financed by theEuropean Union within theBSR INTERREG IIIB NP andExternal actions (TACIS)

A main idea behind the BEE project is to further develop the fruitful bilateral cooperation since the beginning of the 1990th between public parties of the Kaliningrad Region and South Sweden, but now developing the earlier support approach into cooperation on more equal conditions, creating win-win conditions for all parties involved.

Very important problems to tackle are the lack of practice oriented, sustainable education methods and practises of friendly environmental attitudes in both countries, as well as how to develop methods for good management and capacity building for handling environmental and energy issues.

Descriptions and comparisons will be done concerning legislation, the role of municipalities for implementation of regulations, etc. Arenas for coordination of sustainable development activities and using results of project work in day-to-day activities of ordinary administrative line-organisations will be developed. New practice oriented education methods for sustainable development on compulsory school levels will be developed on the basis of mutual experiences and new thinking. A programme for concrete long-term bilateral cooperation between the Kaliningrad Region and South Sweden will also be developed jointly with the RED project.

The BEE project

www.beeproject.eu

KR

EATION

.SE | 07-0388

Swedish Environmental Policy

Documents

Transcript of Swedish Environmental Policy