Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 82

waste at ubiquitous collection points. This includes heavy items like white
goods, old mattresses, and construction material.
In 1967 Sweden established the Environmental Protection Agency
(Naturvardsverket), and two years later passed a law to regulate air, water,
and noise pollution. It concentrated on point sources such as sewer dis-
charges. In 1987 it established the Ministry of the Environment with EPA
as part. The kingdom uses taxes and charges to protect the environment.
For example, leaded fuel and sulfur are taxed to discourage their use.
When introduced in 2000, this was labeled the Green Tax Shift.
In 1999 Sweden redrafted its laws by adopting a comprehensive
Environmental Code. Besides consolidating existing legislation, the code
introduced environmental courts, set ambient quality standards, clarified
the function of impact assessments, and integrated the European Union
water regulations. It uses economic instruments like taxes and charges.
The code promulgates seven principles: precaution, best possible technol-
ogy, appropriate location, eco-cycle, product choice, and polluter pays.
City and rural planning is another method of environmental improve-
ment. The country is famous for it city planning, dating back more than a
century. The first planning law in 1874 addressed health problems caused
by air and water pollution. Today, the 1987 national Planning and Building
Act assigns primary responsibility to the municipalities. The biggest cities
of Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmo have metropolitan area plans.
In rural areas, protecting the landscape is a county function.
Industry is more prone to cooperate on environmental protection than
in other countries. The Confederation of Swedish Enterprises published
a Vision for Sustainable Industrial Development in 2000. Nearly three
thousand companies are certified according to ISO 14001, giving Sweden
the highest rate of certification in the world. The government has signed
many voluntary agreements with industry in areas such as shipping, gaso-
line, and pesticides. Nevertheless, industry still favors its own interests.
The confederation lobbies for tax cuts, opposes regulation, and advocates
letting private companies take over government activities like health care
and education. The organization has a staff of 200 in its headquarters plus
21 regional offices around the country and a branch in Brussels for lobby-
ing the EU. Its Vision report brags that the industry is doing a good job so
far in cleaning up the environment.
Acid rain was the first environmental problem Sweden faced inter-
nationally. By the mid-1960s scientists recognized that sulfur emissions
from England, the Low Countries, and Germany were drifting north to