瑞典凭借其出色高效的垃圾焚化能源再生系统使其城市供热系统使用的热能有近1/5来自于垃圾焚化，且大约有25万户家庭的电能来源于垃圾焚化。由于垃圾处理效率太高，瑞典现在面临垃圾短缺的窘境。于是瑞典就开始从邻国进口垃圾，而每年的进口需求大约为80万吨。

目前，挪威已经开始花钱让瑞典人帮他们处理垃圾了。此外，保加利亚，罗马尼亚和意大利可能会成为下一批瑞典的目标垃圾卖家。一位瑞典国家环境保护局的高级顾问称，以上国家的垃圾处理方式主要依赖于填埋的方式，而垃圾填埋恰恰是一种落后的，破坏环境的垃圾处理方式。而瑞典的垃圾填埋比例只占所有垃圾处理的4%。

同时，这位高级顾问称，在资源日益短缺的将来，垃圾或许会变得更加有价值。

Only 4 percent of Swedish garbage ends up in a landfill, according to Swedish Waste Management. Due to its efficiency in converting waste to renewable energy, Sweden has recently begun importing around 800,000 tons of trash annually from other countries.

Norway is now paying Sweden to take its garbage. Swedish sights are also set on Bulgaria, Romania and Italy as future trash exporters, as Catarina Ostlund, a senior advisor for the country's environmental protection agency, told PRI. Those countries rely heavily on landfills – a highly inefficient and environmentally degrading system.

Sweden is leading the way in waste management, but it is one of few. We live in a world where nearly 70 percent of deep sea Arctic creatures are in contact with human trash like plastic bags and beer bottles. In the United States, where the EPA says 250 million tons of trash was generated in 2010 alone, only about 34 percent was recycled.

Sweden creates energy for around 250,000 homes and powers one-fifth of the district heating system, Swedish Waste Managements says. Its incineration plants offer a look into the future where countries could potentially make money off of their trash — and not just dump it in the ocean or bury it in mass landfills.

"I would say maybe in the future, this waste will be valued even more," Ostlund said. "So maybe you could sell your waste, because there will be a shortage of resources within the world."