The US Should Really Start Recycling Like the Swedes

Let’s separate the colored glass from the colorless glass

One of the major changes I had to get used to when I moved to Sweden was the whole recycling conundrum. Unlike the US, where we would just throw everything away in the same trash bin, in Sweden, they separate everything from food waste to plastic.

This means that the colored and colorless glass don’t go in the same bin. It means that cartons don’t go in the same recycling receptable as recyclable paper (i.e. printed paper, newspaper, magazines, and books). It means that when you’re done with your dry shampoo, you should put the bottle in the metal bin and the cap in the plastic bin. It also means that your garbage is sorted in 8 different ways: colorless glass, colored glass, metal, food waste, plastic packaging, paper packaging, recyclable paper, and residual waste.

Here is what each and every category gets recycled into:

Colorless glass gets recycled into new glass packages, insulation, or as an added substance to improve or conserve concrete.

Colored glass also gets recycled into new glass packages, but in its respective colors, as well as insulation, and as an added substance to improve or conserve concrete.

Plastic gets recycled into new packaging materials, crates, and planks. Plastic that can’t be recycled is used as fuel in power plants.

Printed paper, newspaper, magazines, and paperback books are recycled into new newspapers as well as facial and bathroom tissues.

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