New laws and regulations are introduced every year. At the beginning of 2024, several new laws began to apply, including reduced petrol and diesel tax, reduced tax on pensions and double punishment for serious weapons offences.
On July 1, the law that now makes it illegal to deny, excuse or belittle the Holocaust also came into effect.
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New law 1 January 2025
In order to protect Sweden’s environmental and climate impact, another new law will soon come into force.
As of January 1, 2025, the law that determines how textile waste may be recycled will apply. This is against the background that we in Sweden have a high consumption of clothing and textiles.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has previously signed its homepage that 80 percent of textile products’ total environmental and climate impact occurs during the manufacturing itself. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to use and take advantage of what is already produced and not throw it away to buy new.
“The government has decided to require separate collection of textile waste. This is a step towards a more circular handling of textiles in Sweden and means, among other things, that municipalities must collect household textile waste separately,” the government wrote on its homepage after the decision has been made.
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Photo: Johan Nilsson/TTNaturvårdsverket: 61,000 tonnes were thrown away
In an interview with News24 develops the Environmental Protection Agency’s case managers, Yvonne Augustssonhow the government agency views the new law.
– Legislation is a way to take advantage of being a valuable resource that causes a large environmental and health impact, especially when extracting raw materials and production. The latter is a big problem because we in the Western world, including Sweden, have a continued high consumption of clothes and textiles, and we use our textiles for an increasingly shorter time.
Augustsson welcomes the change, as previously large amounts of textiles were thrown away and went directly to incineration with energy recovery.
– The general waste statistics for the flow of municipal waste show that 61,000 tonnes of textile waste was generated in 2022. But the flow is probably underestimated, she says and adds:
– This is because there were no specific requirements in the past to collect, handle or report textile waste specifically, which means that we have a poor grasp of how large amounts are generated.
It counts as textile waste:
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Fines can then be issued – if the law is not followed
When it comes time to collect textile waste separately from 1 January 2025, it will also entail greater accuracy in terms of sorting, collection and sorting, otherwise there may be consequences.
– If the current legislation is not complied with by businesses, supervisory authorities can order corrections and issue environmental penalty fees, Augustsson states.
When it comes to collection, however, the major responsibility will lie with the municipality.
– The municipality will have an important role partly in the collection, sorting and handling of the textile waste, but also in the follow-up and reporting of the separately collected material in order for Sweden to achieve the EU’s goals for preparation for reuse and material recycling and thereby avoid fines, says she to Nyheter24.
In order to recycle your old garments, it is required that the municipality you live in sets up collection points, if there are none already. It will also require the municipality to procure services for transport, sorting and treatment of the waste.
What is required of you is simply to recycle the clothes in the right place.
Businesses such as manufacturers and wholesalers will also be covered by the new law.
Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT