Circular economy
A circular economy promotes sustainable use of resources, which saves both money and the environment and also decreases greenhouse gas emissions. In a circular economy, the whole life cycle is taken into account when evaluating the environmental impact.
At HSY we are working every day with promoting and enabling a circular economy in our region and elsewhere. Our goal is to increase material and energy efficiency both in our activities and in our region. We are working to increase the recycling rate and promote circular economy by improving our processes, but also by providing regional data and by taking part in local and international projects and research, development, and innovation.
A safe and efficient water loop
We clean the raw water to safe drinking water and take care of the removal and treatment of wastewater so that the water can safely be let to the ocean and returned to the water cycle. Our water management produces most of the energy needed ourselves, and we effectively capture nutrients from the wastewater so that they and be recycled.
Recycling is enabled by sorting
A shift to a circular economy requires even more efficient use of materials and effective recycling. We have set ambitious goals to increase the recycling rate of municipal solid waste: 60 % in the year 2025. For the goal to be reached, we are providing sorting services and waste management services that encourage sorting. We educate and promote waste reduction, reuse of products, and sorting. We provide inhabitants, decision-makers and other stakeholders with regional information and data on circular economy and waste. In collaboration with other stakeholders, we collect and process waste efficiently into recycled materials. We also provide a platform for circular economy businesses, Ekomo.
In addition to national data on municipal solid waste more local and regional data is necessary to manage and follow up regional actions.
In Finland, the municipalities set up their collection and goals for recycling municipal solid waste, within the boundaries of national law and EU guidelines. The actions and measures are taken on a local or regional level, and therefore it is important to have data supporting regional decision-making and follow-up. We are working in regional cooperation to provide and communicate information to promote recycling and circular economy as well as contributing to projects regionally, nationally, and internationally.