The Swedish Pollutant Release and Transfer Register

Last reviewed: ‎20‎ ‎December‎ ‎2024

The Swedish Pollutant Release and Transfer Register provides environmental information to the public. It allows users to search for emissions of pollutants into air and water, as well as transfers of pollutants via wastewater or waste. Major industrial activities report the information in accordance with international regulations.

The purpose of the Swedish Pollutant Release and Transfer Register is to help the public to access information on emissions and transfer of pollutants to the environment. The goal is that improved access to environmental information will facilitate public participation in decision-making processes related to environmental issues and thereby contribute to preventing and reducing environmental pollution.

Search the register

The register contains emission and waste data from approximately 1,300 facilities in Sweden engaged in environmentally hazardous activities. It is possible to search the register on various geographical levels, such as national, regional (county), or municipal levels. The register includes emission data from point sources as well as smaller so-called diffuse sources.

Collection of information on pollutants and waste

You can use the register to learn about different pollutants and their environmental and health effects, sources and pathways. The register also provides information on international agreements and legislations related to the pollutant.

The Swedish Pollutant Release and Transfer Register is Sweden’s implementation of the PRTR Protocol (Pollutant Release and Transfer Register). The Protocol is a clarification of the UN’s Aarhus Convention, which states that the public should have access to environmental information and the opportunity to influence and appeal environmental decisions. The Protocol regulates the reporting to, and the format of, an emission register containing environmental information accessible to the public. Sweden is one of the countries to have committed to comply to the rules of the Protocol. The EU has also joined the Protocol. The EU’s implementation is regulated by Regulation (EC) No 166/2006, also known as the E-PRTR Regulation (see link below).

Reporting by operators

The companies reporting to the register belong to the industrial categories included in the PRTR Protocol and are required to report according to the E-PRTR Regulation. The substances covered by companies' reporting obligations are listed in the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's provisions on environmental reports for environmentally hazardous activities, NFS 2016:8. These include annual emission data for approximately 90 chemical substances within the following main groups:

  • Greenhouse gases and other gases.
  • Metals.
  • Pesticides.
  • Chlorinated organic compounds and other organic substances.
  • Inorganic substances.
  • Other substances, such as sludge.

The data in the Swedish Pollutant Release and Transfer Register is retrieved from the Swedish Portal for Environmental Reporting (SMP). Companies submit this information through their annual environmental reports. The data is used for international reporting, as well as for monitoring national environmental quality objectives and for supervisory authorities' oversight of companies.

The information in the Swedish Pollutant Release and Transfer Register is directly retrieved from the emission declaration in the environmental report submitted via SMP. The data in the Swedish Pollutant Release and Transfer Register is subsequently reported to Europe’s Pollutant Release and Transfer Register, the European Industrial Emissions Portal (IEP, formerly E-PRTR).

All data for the facilities represent annual emissions or transfers (in kilograms or tons). The data cannot be used as a basis for comparing environmental performance between companies with different conditions.

For more information