Good practice:

Waste Management Company / Lakeuden Ympäristöhuolto Oy

Municipalities in Finland have their own waste management sites the inhabitants are obliged to use. According to Lakeuden Ympäristöhuolto significant amounts of reusable materials from households are burned each year rather than reused. Even though recycling is getting more and more popular in Finland, the individuals are not capable of sorting materials in the same manner as optical systems. For example different types of plastics cannot be sorted correctly by individuals.

The company started to use the first optical waste sorting management in Finland. The company collects waste material from construction sites, companies, industry sector and also some public organisations. As a result of the new optical waste sorting, the company is capable to reuse materials unlike anybody else in Finland. Optic sorting is capable of sorting efficiently in a way the human eye cannot do. With the optical management system the sorting of the waste is more efficient and precise. With the system the company can now sort out more valuable raw materials and sell them back to raw-material markets.

The main stakeholder within the practice is the waste management company that applies the optical waste sorting system. The beneficiaries of the practice are both the waste producers, managers and re-users. Due to the practice waste sorting is outsourced to the machine much more efficient and precise. The company can now receive more waste from its producers and sell more raw-materials.

Purchasing and maintenance of the equipment requires relatively much financial resources. Human resources are needed for planning, research and calculations. The production line itself is run by two to three persons.

Lakeuden Ympäristöhuolto used to reuse 58 % of the materials received. 43 % was reused for energy production and 7 % for others such as biogas. As a result of the optical sorting system the company is capable of reusing 85% of the material received. Due to precise optical sorting they can now sort out more valuable raw materials that are sold for reuse.

Key success factor is more effective and precise sorting of waste material through an up-to-date system, which could be easily transferred to other waste management companies.