Over 1,529 tons of hazardous waste were stopped by the Customs Authority in 2024 from being exported from Sweden to countries outside the EU, according to the authority. This is a significant increase from the record in 2022, when over 1,043 tons were stopped.
One explanation is that the authority has focused more on the waste area compared to 2023, when many resources were devoted to sanctions work against Russia and Belarus, says Johan Norrman.
We have also become good at finding this waste that should not be exported. Of the controls that were carried out, the hit rate is high, over 90 percent.
Billions in criminal profits
According to the customs authority and the police, waste exports are linked to organized crime, where it has become a growing source of income. The police have estimated that waste crimes generate around 6.1 billion kronor annually.
It's more than double what narcotics generate, says Johan Norrman.
Beyond the purely economic aspects, the waste sent from Sweden to countries outside the EU is often hazardous, he says.
In the best case, some form of recycling of this waste takes place, in the worst case, it's just dumped on a landfill and not handled at all.
160 tons of scrap metal
Among the waste stopped by the customs authority and five responsible county administrative boards last year, including a shipment of over 160 tons of metal scrap from Gothenburg to Thailand, 65 tons of car parts from Sundsbruk on their way to Chile, and nearly 50 tons of foil scrap from Norrköping on their way to Thailand.
The most common is cars, car parts, and metal scrap, that type of equipment, says Norrman.
A deficiency that has long been pointed out in the work against environmental crimes is that the potential profits are very high in relation to the potential penalties. However, last year the EU Parliament agreed on new environmental crime rules in the union, which include the possibility of clearly stricter penalties, which will now be implemented by member states.
The head of customs says they will work hard to get more convictions.
We will continue to work on stopping exports, but also explore the possibilities of prosecuting those who try to smuggle this hazardous waste.
Over 1,529 tons of hazardous waste were stopped in a total of 88 cases by the Customs Authority in 2024 from being exported to countries outside the EU.
Distribution per responsible county:
Västra Götaland: 24 cases totaling 562,777 kg
Skåne: 9 cases totaling 106,867 kg
Stockholm: 46 cases totaling 729,167 kg
Gävleborg: 9 cases totaling 130,625 kg
Source: Customs Authority
