Moving away from the throwaway society: Five policy instruments for extending the life of consumer durables

The majority of all environmental impacts can be linked to our consumption. As real wages increase, so does consumption levels – more holiday trips, more clothing purchases, faster replacement of products for newer versions,etc. This trend poses a threat to the state of our planet. While the Nordic countries are high in the overall rankings of achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, they stand outwith unsustainable levels of resource consumption and waste generation, this is an issue when it comes to Goal 12 – Sustainable consumption and production patterns. The environmental impact from consumption in high-income countries, like Sweden, primarily arise in other countries wheret he manufacturing of products typically takes place. This presents challenges for the fulfilment of Sweden’s generational goal, which emphasises that environmental problems in Sweden must be solved without increasing environmental impact outsideS weden.