(best examples and good practices) on household organic waste ...

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Figure 40.: Biological treatment through decades in Sweden
(AÖS., 2009)
These municipalities represent half of the Swedish population. According to a
study carried out by Avfall Sverige, an additional 90 municipalities are planning
to introduce systems for source-separation of food waste. The same study
shows that all municipalities need to act in order to reach the environmental
objective. According to Avfall Sverige calculations, an estimated 20% of the
food waste was biologically treated in 2008.
Waste analysis (Table 8) shows that every Swedish resident produces close to
100 kg of food waste every year, mainly from fruit <strong>and</strong> vegetables. The most
common system used for source separation of food waste in single-family
houses is two separate bins, one for food waste <strong>and</strong> one for combustible waste.
There is also a system where different fractions are separated into separate
containers. Another collection system, which is used, is optic sorting of
different colored bags that are put into the same container. Through anaerobic
digestion of biological waste, biogas, consisting of methane <strong>and</strong> carbon dioxide,
is produced. (AÖS., 2009)
Biogas is renewable <strong>and</strong> the most environmentally sound fuel available, <strong>and</strong> can
be used for vehicle fuel, heating <strong>and</strong> electricity generation. In order to use
biogas as vehicle fuel it needs to be upgraded. In 2008, 280,000 MWh of biogas
was produced, which is equivalent to 30 million liters of petrol. Biogas is today
primarily used as vehicle fuel, a market which is developing quickly.