Recycling in Sweden (Stockholm area)
Recycling in Sweden is mandatory and you need to be highly organized at home, generally divided into sorting packaging (paper, plastic, metal, glass), food waste, and residual waste. Apartments usually have a dedicated (waste room), while houses have multiple bins. Clean, rinse, and separate waste to maximize recycling. And of course deposit returns of cans….
Step 1: Home Sorting categories
Food Waste: Placed in special degradable paper bags (provided by the municipality).
Paper Packaging: Cardboard boxes, milk cartons, paper bags.
Plastic Packaging: Shampoo bottles, plastic bags, food tubs.
Metal Packaging: Food tins, aluminum foil, bottle caps.
Glass Packaging: Bottles and jars, often separated by colored/clear glass.
Newspapers: Magazines, advertisements, catalogs.
Residual Waste: Non-recyclable, non-hazardous household waste. It goes in the trash can.
Battery/Small Electronics: Specialized collection boxes are often in the waste room.
Return Bottles/Cans (Pant): Return plastic bottles and aluminium cans to supermarkets for a refund. About 0,10 EUR (10 cents) per can is refunded. See below!!
Step 2: Recycling Stations (Ã…tervinningsstation) or the green containers: If your home doesn’t have bins for everything, take items to local recycling stations (often located in residential areas).
Step 3: Recycling Centers (Ã…tervinningscentral): For larger items, furniture, electronics, and hazardous waste, visit a staffed recycling center.
NEW FROM 2025/2026
The New Four-Compartment Bins (2025/2026)
Many houses now use two large wheelie bins, each divided into four compartments, enabling sorting of 8–10 different waste types directly at home. De facto moving the sorting closer to the source at the house. Many local recycling stations/containers will be removed.
Bin 1 & 2 (8 Compartments Total): Usually holds Food Waste, Paper Packaging, Coloured Glass, Metal, Residual Waste, Plastic Packaging, and Newspapers.
Small Bin: Often provided for batteries and small electronics.
Collection: These bins are typically emptied every other week or every fourth week.
PANTAMERA
The Pant system or returning of cans and bottles / Deposit return / Bottle Bill or whatever it is called!
It started in 1984 when the can producers and vendors started giving back money for every canned return to the reverse vending machines.
Followed by Island, Finland, Norway, Denmark. More recent Germany, Estonia and some US and Canadian states. EU decided in 2025 that all participating countries should have a system of returning cans/bottles by 2029.
Returning cans and bottles are very much incentivize and managed by the producers and vendors of cans. The pant (deposit) given back is about 10 cents (EUR) per can or 20 cents per larger bottles. That is done in reverse vending machine at most grocery stores.
The company in charge Returpack with the brand Pantamera (Deposit more) handles the system of collecting and paying at most the return and most grocery stores. They collect almost 90% of cans sold, In return they sell about 27000 tons of aluminium back to the industry.
HOWEVER. The most interesting of all this are the commercials!!
In 2004 somebody (thank you!) connected Panta mera with the world famous song Guantanamera and the theme was set.
It started with the very first film with the band Buena Vista Social Club from cuba, performing the original version. I consider this the best commercial that has ever been made. You tube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV5sOa04EWA.
Here are some more of the many Pantamera videos with different participating artist (including E-type ,Lordi…)
Here is the Band-aid (parodi) version :
Another theme:
Again: On the song theme Pata Pata by Miriam Makeba comes “Panta panta! Recorded outside Johannesburg.
(Sorry for the poor quality everywhere!)
2026-04-13
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