The Swedish City Where Recycling is a Priority

Pin in map of Swedish city famous for recycling

If we are to live in a clean unpolluted world, then waste disposal needs more investment and a tighter focus on sustainable recycling systems. One city in Sweden is leading the way with exciting projects emerging from the public and private sectors.


Former Industrial Heartland

The industrial city of Eskilstuna lies about 80 miles inland from Sweden’s capital Stockholm in the southeast of the country. Because of its connections to the steel industry city is sometimes compared to Sheffield, but it has a much smaller population. The decline in steel production over the last few decades led to a diaspora of 10,000 steelworkers who left in search of jobs, and unemployment figures double Sweden’s national average.


Public Initiatives

Each household in Eskilstuna can be issued with up to seven bins so they can divide their waste into food, textiles, metals, paper, glass, plastics, and general waste. The scheme is optional, but there is a huge incentive to opt in – 50% off the household waste disposal fee of nearly 6000 kronor (£518).  Public transport is either electric or run on biogas generated by the composting of food waste. Water is heated by energy created in the production of low-carbon electricity.


Private Sector Investment

Just out of town is a second-hand mall. Residents of Eskilstuna donate their unwanted items which are sorted in a warehouse and resold in the mall’s shops. Initially, the mall was subsidised by the local council. But since 2018, it has covered its own costs. Partly by encouraging visitors from other cities to come on tours to see how things can be done differently to avoid waste winding up in landfill.

At WT Skips, sorting the waste we collect so that it can be reused or recycled has always been a priority. Less than 10% of our waste goes to landfill and we are always looking for ideas to improve these figures. 


If you care about what happens to your waste, then hiring a skip from a licensed disposal firm is one of the most environmentally responsible ways to get rid of your rubbish. For more information on our waste disposal services, or to book your skip, call us on 01493 668118 or email info@wtskiphire.co.uk


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Read more about the approach to recycling in Eskilstuna