The Circwaste forerunner municipalities Kuopio, Porvoo and Circwaste partner municipality Pori were recognised in a competition organised by Sitra and the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities. The competition was looking for the most interesting municipal circular economy solutions. The forerunner municipalities of Rovaniemi, Turku and Jyväskylä received honourable mention in the competition.

Plastics are pointed out as the main culprit, something to be urgently eliminated. But is it really the materials that are at fault? And what can we do, writes senior research scientist Helena Dahlbo from Finnish Environment Institute.

Ten Finnish municipalities − Ii, Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Porvoo, Riihimäki, Rovaniemi, Turku and Vantaa − have committed themselves to promoting the circular economy in an ambitious and concrete way.

"Circular economy will play a key role when the societies of the future migrate toward more sustainable production and consumtion", envisions Finnish Minister of the Environment Kimmo Tiilikainen.

Smart waste bins, turning sludge components into mobile phones, a waste-stingy hospital, using scavengers to recover gold – on 7 February an audience of nearly 100 took part in the Central Finland towards circular economy 2018 seminar held at Jyväskylä City Hall. They shared the latest circular economy news in the region.

The red and white screen beside the school’s biowaste container first shows 50 grams, and then changes to 2.1 kilograms. A student at Länsi-Pori School has just found out how much food he/she threw away and how much food in total was disposed of during that day’s school meal.

The Circwaste forerunner municipality of Lappeenranta, Lappeenranta University of Technology and their partners have received major funding from the EU to develop a building material to replace concrete as well as a new urban image.

Waste management for households and companies in Southwest Finland is already well organised, but the goals for the future are still high. The companies in Turku’s Topinpuisto circular economy network are working with research institutes to develop value chains for materials that end up as waste.