Scandinavia

Brief History of Consumption and Waste

While 21st-century Scandinavia is one of the most affluent regions in the world, with high standards of living, many faced poverty and poor living conditions in the cities in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the latter half of the 1800s, most large Scandinavian cities established city sanitation departments, mainly for public health purposes, such as preventing cholera. Recycling of waste became a way to make scarce resources last longer. Many cities practiced food recycling through mandatory source separation of waste, feeding food leftovers to pigs, up until World War II. Due to resource scarcity during the war, recycling of all types of materials became commonplace. Rationing cards indirectly encouraged recycling by controlling and limiting consumption. During the 1970s, the Scandinavian countries all implemented official waste disposal policies tied to the creation of a Ministry of Environment. In the early 21st century, few recycle because of individual resource scarcity; rather, consumer recycling has become a practical and ideological statement about the relationship between consumer habits and waste generation.

After World War II, consumption levels rose dramatically. Scandinavians eagerly discarded old recycling habits in favor of disposables and unused products. At the same time, Scandinavians gained more leisure time and vacation days, which was linked [Page 787]with more private car ownership and increased mobility. By 2009, Norway had the fifth-highest per capita income in the world (PPP adjusted) at $57,600, while Sweden was 29th with $37,000, and Denmark was 31st with $35,900. Since the 1970s, oil and gas have become Norway's main source of income, though fisheries and forestry have retained their historically important role. Sweden has an extensive, knowledge-based industrial manufacturing sector and also has a large resource export industry for timber, hydropower, and iron ore. In Denmark, the service industry plays an important role in the economy, though industry, fisheries, and forestry also contribute to the country's economy.

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