Finland Times

 

Municipal waste by treatment method in 2002 to 2013. Source: Waste statistics 2013, Statistics Finland.

The amount of municipal waste at landfills is decreasing significantly and the incineration of waste increasing as the country is setting more incineration plants. 

 

According to the data of the Statistics Finland, last year the reduction was over a quarter compared to the previous year and the same rate seems to be continuing this year as well. 

 

Only 670,000 tonnes of municipal waste was deposited at landfills in 2013 while in 2008 the amount was still 1,400,000 tonnes. 

 

There are already eight waste incineration and 14 waste co-incineration plants that are running or being built in Finland. If the current development continues, landfills for municipal waste will become history, as is already the case in Switzerland and almost true for Sweden, Germany and Denmark. 

 

The total amount of municipal waste was 2.7 million tonnes in 2013, which was slightly less than in 2012. A total of 1,140,000 tonnes or around 42 per cent of the municipal waste was incinerated. 

 

In addition to waste incineration plants and waste co-incineration plants, around 80,000 tonnes of waste was decomposed in biogas plants and other anaerobic plants. 

 

The recycling rate of municipal waste or recovery of waste as matter was close to the figures of 2012, around one-third of all waste. The recovery rate of municipal waste however increased, thanks to energy recovery, to 75 per cent, which was clearly higher than ever before.