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[null,"Prepared By:","Contributors:"]
[null,"Advokatfirman Vinge KB","Lina Österberg"]
[]
[]
[]
["Environmental Regulatory Tracking"]
[]
["Report Generated: 5/1/2025"]
[]
["View your report results on next tab"]

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["Question","Sweden"]
["Horizon Scan"]
["1. Classification of steel slags, refractories and aluminum dross – are each of them regulated as industrial co-products, solid wastes or hazardous wastes? Are there regulations, limitations or restrictions in landfilling such materials?","The answer to this question depends on several things. Under the \nSwedish Environmental Code, waste means any substance or object that the holder disposes of or intends or is obliged to dispose of. Therefore, the holder of steel slags, refractories and aluminum dross is expected to conduct a preliminary assessment in this connection. If the holder concludes that the material is waste, the \nSwedish Ordinance (2020:614) on Waste is applicable. Under the \nSwedish Ordinance on Waste, wastes from the iron and steel industry are specified under 10 02 01 wastes from the processing of slag and 10 02 02 unprocessed slags. Further, refractories are classified under 16 11 01* carbon-based linings and refractories from metallurgical processes containing hazardous substances and that should be considered hazardous waste under Chapter 2, Section 3, 16 11 02 other carbon-based linings and refractories from metallurgical processes other than those mentioned in 16 11 01, 16 11 03* other linings and refractories from metallurgical processes containing hazardous substances and that should be considered hazardous waste under Chapter 2, Section 3, 16 11 04 other linings and refractories from metallurgical processes other than those mentioned in 16 11 03, 16 11 05* linings and refractories from non-metallurgical processes containing hazardous substances and that should be considered hazardous waste under Chapter 2, Section 3, and 16 11 06 other linings and refractories from non-metallurgical processes others than those mentioned in 16 11 05. Finally, aluminum dross is specified under 17 04 02 aluminum. An * indicates that the material is hazardous. If the holder of the material does not conclude that the material is waste it must instead be investigated whether the material is a byproduct. A substance or object shall be considered a byproduct instead of waste if the substance or object (i) has arisen in a production process where the main purpose is not to produce the substance or object, (ii) can be used directly without any processing other than that which is normal in industrial practice, and (iii) will continue to be used in a way that is acceptable to health and the environment and that does not contravene the law or other constitution. The requirements that must be met in order for something to be classified as a byproduct are so-called cumulative, which means that all three must be met. If a material does not meet all the established criteria, the material must always be classified as waste. If the material is considered a byproduct, it can be sold external and product legislation is then applicable, e.g. \nRegulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (\"\nREACH\"). A product or material can never be both waste and a byproduct. If the operator is unsure whether the classification of the residual product as a byproduct or waste is correct, reconciliation should be made with the supervisory authority (municipality or county administrative board). In the Swedish steel industry, companies have traditionally had their own landfills, but some of the steel companies have decided not to have any of their own anymore. According to the Swedish EPA and the Swedish Iron Business Cooperation (\nSw. Jernkontoret), this is a result of conscious residual product work. The materials that cannot be utilized or disposed of internally are sent to the municipality's landfill or to other companies that take care of waste. If the company has its own landfill, it needs to have a permit which is normally included in the environmental permit for the whole business. In this context, it can be mentioned that in Sweden it is becoming more and more difficult to obtain permits for landfills because the aim is to work according to the EU's waste hierarchy where landfill of waste should be prevented. Under the \nOrdinance (2001:512) on Landfilling of Waste, only waste that has been treated may be disposed of. Treatment refers to the use of physical, thermal, chemical or biological methods, including sorting, which alters the properties of the waste so that its quantity or hazard is reduced, handling is facilitated, or recycling is favored. Each landfill shall be assigned to one of the following classes: landfill for hazardous waste, landfill for non-hazardous waste or landfill for inert waste, and different rules may apply to the different classes.\n"]
["2. Reuse, recycle and alternative application of internal byproducts  - what regulations are now in place or are anticipated within the next 12-18 months that will encourage steel mills and aluminum producers to reuse or recycle their internal by-products (such waste refractories, slags, sludges, baghouse dust, aluminum dross, etc) or find alternative application for by-products (asphalt, cement, ready-mix, mineral wool, replacement for natural mining new aggregates, fertilizers, etc.)?","Based on our contacts with the Swedish Iron Business Cooperation (\nSw. Jernkontoret) and the Swedish EPA, reuse and recycling of internal byproducts within the steel mills and aluminum producers is very common in Sweden today.\nThe industry is working actively to ensure optimal use of the materials where the different characteristics are utilized in different applications. There is no regulation in place and the ongoing work is based on the industry's own incentive, which is partly financial. However, the \nSwedish Environmental Code's general rules of consideration state that activity must conserve raw materials and energy and take advantage of the opportunities to prevent and recycle waste. The rules express the principle of housekeeping and the principle of recycling, which means that what is extracted from nature in a sustainable way must be able to be used, reused, recycled and disposed of with the least possible resource consumption and without harming nature. By ensuring the use of steel industry byproducts (preventing the generation of waste), reuse of internal materials (internal circulation), recycling of, for example, metal content in dust, reduce the extraction of virgin materials considerably. According to the Swedish Iron Business Cooperation (\nSw. Jernkontoret), steel has the excellent property that it can be recycled an infinite number of times without changing the properties and the industry's residual product work ends up high up in the waste hierarchy and the Swedish industry is in this way a resource-efficient and circular industry. Already today, sectors of society, such as the cement and concrete industry, the mineral wool and glass industry as well as refractory industry, use the steel industry's byproducts. Increased use of slag in for example road constructions is well in line with the Swedish national environmental goals of reducing the intake of virgin materials and increased use of alternative materials in line with the EU circular economy strategy. It also contributes positively to the UN's global goals. It is important to clarify that in Sweden, steel mills and aluminum producers are obliged to comply with both the binding so-called \nBAT Conclusions (binding general regulations after the implementation of the \nEU Industrial Emissions Directive (\"\nIED\")) and the environmental permit issued for the business. In order to ensure compliance with the rules of consideration in the \nSwedish Environmental Code, a large number of environmentally hazardous activities and operations are subject to licensing. Such activities or operations may not be started without a permit. Activities or operations for which permits are compulsory are specified in the \nSwedish Environmental Code or in ordinances. A permit states the conditions under which an activity may be carried out. The examination of the permit depends on the location and the specific activity. The \nIED aims to achieve a high level of protection of human health and the environment by reducing harmful industrial emissions across the EU, in particular through better application of Best Available Techniques (\"\nBAT\"). \nBAT Conclusions are uniform requirements that set emission levels for industries within the EU through industry-specific requirements for the approximately 30 industries covered by the \nIED. Limit values in the BAT Conclusions only regulate emissions under normal operating conditions. The directive thus does not regulate the total environmental impact of industrial activities but aims to check that emissions under normal operating conditions are not higher than the emission limits corresponding to \nBAT. The total environmental impact of the business is instead regulated in the individual permit examination according to the \nSwedish Environmental Code. According to the Swedish EPA, the Swedish implementation of \nIED aims to keep environmental permits separate from BAT Conclusions as far as possible and the purpose is to reduce as far as possible the need for individual reconsideration of permits in connection with the publication of new \nBAT Conclusions. To our, the Swedish Iron Business Cooperation’s (\nSw. Jernkontoret) and the Swedish EPA’s knowledge, there is no regulation anticipated within the next 12-18 months.\n"]
["3. Use of chemicals, metals, oxides - Are there any existing or anticipated regulatory limitations or otherwise encouragement on handling or using certain chemicals, metals, oxides e.g. in the steel industry, landfill (for example):\n1.fluorine-containing material additions in the steel-making process.\n2.Aluminum oxides from Aluminum dross slag in cement, steelmaking, etc.\n3.Chrome, Beryllium, Molybdian, calcium, oxides, etc.","According to the \nSwedish EPA and the Swedish Iron Business Cooperation (\nSw. Jernkontoret), chemicals, metals and oxides are used in the steel industry today, but hazardous materials are exchanged for less hazardous material. This is governed by the \nREACH Regulation. Under the \nSwedish Environmental Code and the different \nBAT conclusions, there is a limit on how much an industry can emit. According to the Swedish Iron Business Cooperation (\nSw. Jernkontoret), there is also a self-destructive drive of companies to recover as much of the metals, chemicals and oxides as possible. Again, the waste hierarchy advocates that the industry should landfill as little material as possible. According to the Swedish Chemicals Agency, different regulations may apply to depend on if the substance that is handled or used is considered a chemical substance or a product. However, the \nREACH and the \nCLP regulations apply. The \nREACH Regulation contains, among other things, rules on the registration of substances, bans or other restrictions on substances, requirements for permits for particularly dangerous substances and rules on informing customers. The \nCLP Regulation contains rules for classifying, labeling and packaging chemical products. The regulation also contains rules on reporting data for substances and mixtures. A company that places chemical products on the market needs to follow these rules. Under the \nSwedish Environmental Code, a company that manufactures or imports products subject to notification must notify the Swedish Chemicals Agency’s product register. The sale and private use of particularly dangerous chemical products in Sweden requires a permit under the \nRegulation (2008:245) on Chemical Products and Biotechnological Organisms. After our contact with the Swedish Chemicals Agency, we understand that it is not possible to give an exact answer to a)-c) as the question is broad and generally asked. The Swedish Chemicals Agency informed us that the regulations depend on the area of use and which substance is used. For example, Chrome can differ depending on the form in which it occurs. However, the field of chemicals is harmonized in the EU and common rules apply. The European Chemicals Agency (\"\nECHA\") is the responsible agency to implement the EU’s chemicals legislation. Basically, all chemicals are regulated in the EU as there is a registration duty under the \nREACH Regulation. All substances must be classified according to the \nCLP Regulation. Parallel legislation may exist depending on the area of use. Under each substance on \nECHA's website, there is a tool showing an overview of substances in various key regulatory processes that authorities are working on (\"\nPACT\") and substances potentially subject to further regulatory management (\"\nRMOA\").\n"]
["4. Cement and Concrete regulations – rules to limit or encourage adding more slag, fly ash, etc to cement; Green cement / concrete regulations that would support lower carbon-emissions based products (i.e. Carbicrete)","There are no rules that explicitly limit or encourage adding more slag or fly ash to cement today. According to the Swedish EPA, there is no expressed desire in the legislation on the matter today except the circular economy strategy and climate initiative. Based on our contacts with the Swedish Iron Business Cooperation (\nSw. Jernkontoret), the work on adding more slag, fly ash, etc. to cement is something that is made today in cooperation between two companies (normally a steel mill and a cement industry). Although no rules per se, the Swedish Transport Administration (\nSw. Trafikverket) sets climate requirements and requirements for emission reduction in all its major contracts. This opens up for increased use of slag and fly ash in cement and concrete. The Swedish Government plans to introduce requirements for climate declaration when constructing new buildings. This means that builders must report the impact on the climate of a new building. The law on climate declaration for new buildings is planned to enter into force on January 1, 2022, and is a way of, among other things, trying to access sectors where concrete and cement are used to a large extent. According to the Swedish EPA, it is important to be very careful when treating fly ash because of the high risk of contamination. When ash is to be treated or used in construction projects, an environmental permit application or a notification to the supervisory authority is required in accordance with the \nSwedish Environmental Code."]
["5. Regulations to support new technologies – existing or anticipated regulations on EAF dust recovery, dust control, dumps recovery, treatment of water, natural gas","In Sweden, there is a \nClimate initiative (\nKlimatklivet) which is a support for local and regional investments that reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that affect the climate. The invested funds must provide the greatest possible emission reduction per invested SEK. Further, the Swedish Parliament has adopted the climate target meaning that Sweden will have no net emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by 2045 and thereafter achieve negative emissions. To support the change, the government has decided on the long-term initiative \nIndustriklivet. Achieving the climate goals will require extensive investments in new technology that is often not commercialized. The road to net-zero emissions requires investments in innovative and technology-changing solutions. The industry is playing a major role in the transition to a circular and bio-based economy. Both by reducing their own emissions and by contributing to climate change in society through their products. According to the Swedish EPA, this may be used for all investments that reduce the emission of carbon dioxide and other gases that affect the climate, including dumps recovery. Today, there are only a few premises in Sweden that handle EAF dust recovery by recycling iron and metals from dust and sludge from iron and steel mills. The business is classified as environmentally hazardous and an environmental permit is required according to the \nSwedish Environmental Code. According to the Swedish EPA, it is a pure self-examination drive for companies to take advantage and recover EAF dust. The intention of a circular economy may push companies to recovery EAF dust. There are usually criteria regarding dust control in the environmental permit that each steel mill must comply with. As mentioned under question no. 2, there are also value limits in the \nBAT Conclusions to comply with. According to the Swedish EPA and Swedish Iron Business Cooperation (\nSw. Jernkontoret), treatment of water is regulated in the \nBAT Conclusions. Depending on the type of treatment of water, conditions under a permit may also apply. According to the Swedish EPA, natural gas is not very common in Sweden as there are no widespread natural gas networks in Sweden. Therefore, few companies use natural gas. To our, the Swedish Iron Business Cooperation’s (\nSw. Jernkontoret) and the Swedish EPA’s knowledge, there are no anticipated regulations that we are aware of.\n"]
["6. CO2 emissions and CO2 trading programs - Existing and anticipated CO2 trading programs the Client could benefit from and/or CO2 emissions regulations that may favor increased use of steel mills and aluminium producers internal by-products/applied products","The existing CO2 trading program in Sweden is based on EU regulations. On January 1, 2021, the fourth trading period in the \nEU Emissions Trading Scheme began, extending until 2030. Due to the new trading period, the EU regulation changed and therefore also the Swedish regulation with new legislation that entered into force on January 1, 2021. According to the Swedish EPA, there are no specific regulations within the CO2 trading program or CO2 emissions regulations concerning increased internal by-products/applied products. However, the CO2 trading program in Sweden and the EU is structured in such a way that the more efficient your business is, the more you benefit from the trading system. When using internal byproducts/applied products, the business will become more effective and will benefit more from the trading program. Neither Vinge nor the Swedish EPA is aware of any anticipated CO2 trading program that the Client could benefit from and that would favor increased use of steel mills and aluminum producers' internal byproducts/applied products.\n"]
["7. Steel slags/Applied Products imports, export, transport or trade – existing or anticipated regulations that would limit or encourage import/export, transport or trade of steel slags or applied products.","The rules vary depending on if the steel slags/applied products are considered waste or byproducts. If the steel slags are considered waste, the \nEU Waste Transport Regulation (1013/2006) (\"Waste Transport Regulation\")applies when importing and exporting waste. Before exporting waste, it is crucial to determine what classification the waste has, to what country the waste is to be exported to and how it will be treated. This is important in order to determine whether the waste transport needs to be registered or not. Before importing waste, the importer must include in the permit application that the facility that will handle the waste in Sweden has a permit to do so. A permit is also needed for transporters of waste in Sweden. The same applies to persons who trade waste in Sweden. According to the Swedish EPA, the \nWaste Transport Regulation is under revision and a proposal from the EU Commission is expected in June 2021. However, it will be some time before the new legislation is in place and the content is still unknown. If the holder of the steel slags considers it as a byproduct, the \nWaste Trade Regulation does not apply. It is important that the distinction is correct because if the competent authorities of dispatch and of destination cannot agree on the classification as regards the distinction between waste and non-waste, the subject matter shall be treated as if it were waste (article 28 under the \nWaste Trade Regulation). Existing regulation that would limit or encourage import/export, transport or trade of steel slags or applied products considered as byproducts is \nREACH. All companies that manufacture, import, distribute or use a substance, a mixture or a product are affected by the rules of \nREACH. According to \nREACH, a company can have several different roles. As a manufacturer and/or importer, you may, according to \nREACH, be obliged to (i) register the substances that you manufacture or import, (ii) prepare and submit safety data sheets or other information to the recipients of the substance, (iii) check if the substance is subject to permit requirements, (iv) if you want to continue using or placing a substance on the market that is subject to a permit requirement, you must apply for a permit, and (v) follow any restrictions on the substance or mixture. A distributor includes suppliers and most wholesalers and retailers. Among other things, the distributor is obliged to (i) provide safety data sheets or other information to the recipient of a substance or mixture or article containing certain substances, (ii) ensure that safety data sheets and other information to the recipient of a substance or mixture or product containing certain substances are up to date, and (iii) pass on new information about a substance's hazardous properties and appropriate risk management measures to the next actor or distributor up the distribution chain. A company is an exporter if it exports chemical products, pesticides or goods to a country outside the EU/EEA. An exporter is responsible for ensuring that the products exported meet the requirements of relevant chemical legislation. Keep in mind that one and the same product can be covered by several different laws. An exporter may need to make sure that the products that are exported comply with the chemical regulations that apply in the countries exported to. An exporter can also be a manufacturer, importer or distributor within the EU/EEA and the products may therefore also have to comply with the chemical rules that apply here.\n"]