Visit to a waste management company Stormossen

In Vaasa we have one of the oldest waste management companies in Finland called Stormossen. We got a opportunity to visit them in June 2021.

Enviromental educator Sini Hemming presented us their activities.

Pic 1. A walking tour through the Stormossen area.

In Finland the municipalities are responsible for arranging the waste disposal from private households, the public sector and health care. These sectors are active in recycling and sorting waste to different bins before waste companies are collecting the waste. We have specific law and instructions for handling the waste.

The municipalities have formed waste management companies that handle waste. Stormossens business is an example of a real circular economy. They deal with a biowaste and sludge and convert it into compost soil and biogas vehicle fuel.

The first public refuelling station for vehicle gas in Vaasa is in Stormossen. In the same area, a bus depot has been build for the city’s twelve gas-powered buses.

During the last ten years they have managed to reduce the amount of waste and increase recycling and reusing material.

At the same time the amount of material which ends into landfill has decreased significantly.

Pic 2. An overview of how the amount of landfill has decreased during 2002-2018.

The international waste statistics of recycling, producing energy from waste and waste’s ending to landfills is published by Eurostat in 2018. The picture shows situations in different countries in EU. For example Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Austria have decreased the amount of landfill succesfully. The way statistics are compiled varies between countries.

Pic 3. An overview of how municipal waste is generated and treated in the EU
https://eswet.eu/documents/municipal-waste-treatment-in-the-eu-in-2018/

It is important to disseminate information of the recycling and reuse of goods so that we can together reduce waste globally. With the Train2Sustain project, we can help You by sharing this information.

The video of the Stormossen presentation with slides is on YouTube: