Institutional conditions for Swedish metal production: A comparison of subsidies to metal mining and metal recycling

This article examines and contrasts the level of Swedish governmental subsidies to two different ways of producing metal: the metal recycling sector and the metal mining sector. In 2010, the metal mining sector was subsidized by € 40 million and the metal recycling sector € 0.6 million. If the exemption from landfill tax is considered a subsidy, the level of subsidization to the metal mining sector changes drastically to approximately € 4000 million. Regardless of how the concept “subsidy” is defined, the metal mining sector in total and per tonne of metal produced is fundamentally more highly subsidized than the metal recycling sector. The value added per tonne of metal produced for the metal recycling sector appears to be higher than for the metal mining sector. The current dominant trend in the Swedish mineral strategy is nevertheless to increase the level of subsidization to the metal mining sector.