SVT Nyheter Öst has checked what it looks like in the county's four largest municipalities: Linköping, Norrköping, Motala and Mjölby.
- Pressure impregnated wood has increased by 40 percent compared to 2019, says Kjell Österskog, department manager for the recycling centers in Linköping.
The same is true in Norrköping and Motala, where pressure-impregnated wood has increased by 27 and 81 per cent respectively this year.
In both municipalities, the waste otherwise remains at normal levels.
- I looked at whether the fact that many worked from home affected the waste we collect as well, but the combustible waste is largely unchanged and food waste has decreased, says Anders Karlsson, business area manager waste at Nodra in Norrköping.
Visitor registration
In Linköping, all vehicles that drive into the recycling centers are registered and there is an increase of 9.5 percent, or 42,600 more cars.
- Just when the pandemic started, we had an intense month and voluntarily chose to have a guard and limit the number of visitors to 50 at a time, says Liselott Myrbråten, business area manager waste service at Tekniska verken.
Vehicles are now also registered in Norrköping.
Among other things, to see how many "outsiders" use the Return Points.
In Motala, barriers have been used since 1 May.
- We have chosen to limit and register the number of visits for private individuals, mostly because some companies did not pay for themselves.
says Martina Hornwall, waste engineer at Motala municipality.
Increase this spring
In Mjölby, there was a problem with the digital visitor counter when SVT Nyheter Öst got in touch.
- We had an increase, especially this spring.
May this year compared to May last year meant 20 percent more visits, says Per Andersson, site manager at Hulje recycling center.
He believes that those there will see an increase of 10 percent over time.