Only 1 % of Finnish waste sent to landfill
Some 60 percent of Finnish refuse is burnt at incinerators.
New figures from Statistics Finland show that just one percent of Finnish rubbish collected by municipal authorities now ends up at landfill sites.
The figures, which were published on Wednesday, relate to waste disposed of in 2017. They show a sharp increase in incineration, to 60 percent of total garbage. That is mostly used to power district heating systems.
That uptick in incineration comes in part from a reduction in recycling, but that still accounts for 39 percent of Finland’s total waste. That leaves one percent heading to landfill sites, a reduction from three percent in 2016.
In all households in Finland produce some 2.8 million tonnes of waste each year, which works our at around 500 kilograms per inhabitant.
Related stories from around the North:
Finland: Mounting garbage a problem in northern Finland, Yle News
Norway: Plastic on Svalbard: “I could never believe it was this bad”, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Russian Navy sends clean-up team to Arctic trash dump, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Swedish raft made from trash draws attention to plastic pollution, Radio Sweden
United States: Trump signs Alaska-backed bill targeting plastic trash in ocean, Alaska Public Media
