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.

Kuopio intends its new constructions to be as sustainable and climate-friendly as possible. The facilities at the Kuikkalampi daycare centre and the community service centre of Kuopio’s western rural areas have been efficiently designed to support new ways of learning, while keeping the buildings’ carbon footprint under control.

A pilot carried out in the Circwaste project yielded promising results on the manufacturing of recycled magnets. The recycling of magnets has great potential to grow into a profitable business for recycling companies.

Since the beginning of this year, biogas-powered shared cars have been available for trial use in Kangas, Jyväskylä. Over the course of the spring, ‘car mentors’ will also be teaching other interested people about car sharing. Car sharing is already being taken into consideration in the zoning of new residential areas.

Ketun kierrätys (‘The Fox’s recycling’) mobile game inspired students to sort waste and recycle. In particular, the game boosted the recycling of biowaste and plastic during the pilot implemented in Kuopio.