Working group wants biodegradable waste out of landfills

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The dumping of recyclable and biodegradable waste at landfills is set to decline in the coming years, if a proposal by the a working group of the Ministry of the Environment is approved.
      The task force on the recycling of biodegradable waste, appointed by Minister of the Environment Paula Lehtomäki (Centre), proposes a ban on dumping such waste at landfills.
      Biodegradable waste includes household bio-waste, as well as cardboard and paper. Through various processes, they can be converted into fuel. Some types of waste can be utilised directly as fuel or as a raw material.
     
The working group wants to implement the ban soon. The government has taken the view that such measures might take effect after 2020.
      “The ban will be implemented at the same pace as the overall reform of waste legislation, but a transitional period of a few years will be needed”, said Lehtomäki when receiving the report.
      The new waste management law is to take effect in 2011.
     
In practice, the ban would mean that waste management companies will required either to recycle biodegradable waste, or to utilise it as an energy source - either by burning it directly, or using it to produce methane through decomposition.
      When waste of a biological origin decomposes, it puts out methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas when released into the atmosphere from a landfill, but a very efficient fuel when recovered at the source.
     
In the Helsinki region, the necessary investments have already been made, says Petri Kouvo, waste management director at the Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority (HSY).
      As of 2014, household waste of residents in the Helsinki region is to be incinerated at a waste-burning power plant to be built in Vantaa. Sorted bio-waste is to be handled at a facility built for the production of bio-gas.
      “When this happens, very little, if any, biodegradable waste will go to the landfills.”
     
Residents in many areas already sort their waste for recycling. However, not all waste that is currently placed in recycling bins is actually recycled, because of limited capacity at existing recycling facilities.
      Furthermore, dumping at landfills is cheaper than recycling - for now, and the working group is calling for political decisions that would make recycling more economically feasible than it is now.
     
Legally mandated recycling could place a burden on sparsely-populated communities, where distances to recycling plants are long.
      Lehtomäki hints that certain concessions could be made in the law for more remote areas.
      “In a country like Finland, an overall assessment needs to be considered. It is not environmentally sensible to transport waste over long distances”, she said on Tuesday.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council campaigning for better waste sorting (17.9.2007)
  More efficient sorting and recycling could significantly decrease household waste in Helsinki region (8.10.2009)

See also:
  New factory to produce tonnes of ethanol from waste (25.2.2008)

Helsingin Sanomat