At the turn of the year, a new EU law came into force that prohibits fires in the garden. The law has raised many question marks that have not yet been investigated.
As the evening of the Walpurgis fair approaches, more and more people have asked themselves what to do if they want to hold a May bonfire.
– It is clear that clarification of this regulation is needed so that there are not so many misconceptions, said the Minister of the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari (L) in an interview with TT.
The fire ban – this applies
It is up to the municipality to allow fires in the garden. In order to hold a private May bonfire, you must apply yourself.
– For May bonfires, it is possible to apply for a dispensation from the municipality, says Milla Sundströmmanager at the waste and chemicals unit at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, in a press release.
After that, it is up to the municipality to approve the exemption or not. If you burn without applying for an exemption, it can be costly.
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This means the burning ban in the neighboring countries
Burning bans also apply among Sweden’s neighboring countries. All EU countries have to follow the directive but can interpret it differently.
In Finland it has been done in a similar way as in Sweden. Here, garden waste should not be burned but handed in for recycling.
“Garden waste and wood waste are collected at the municipal recycling centers and sometimes also through mobile collection directly from households” writes Timo Hämäläinen who is chief advisor at KIVO, the equivalent of Waste Sweden in Finland, in an email to the Alting.
In Norway, there is no fire ban, despite EU regulations. However, the municipalities have a responsibility to ensure that waste is sorted and recycled.
However, burning waste is completely prohibited, but exceptions can be made for garden waste in particular.
Can you have a fire in the garden? This decides
Chaos around the new fire law – this applies where you live
Here you can make a fire – once a year
Of all the Nordic countries, Denmark has the strictest ban.
Here, it is completely forbidden to make a fire in the garden on all but one day – and that is if you get permission from the municipality.
The reason is that Denmark, even before the EU law came into force, had strict rules regarding the incineration of waste.
“Denmark wanted to prioritize composting to increase our recycling percentages,” writes a ministry source in Denmark Everything.