In the past 20 years, the Finnish government has continued to improve the treatment of municipal waste, from all the dumping of landfill, to the development of sorting and recycling, and more recently a series of waste minimization measures, in order to minimize the amount of garbage and the pollution caused by it.
The capital of Finland, Helsinki, has an annual per capita household waste of 315 kilograms. Effectively categorizing and recycling municipal garbage is not only conducive to maintaining the urban environment, but can also turn waste into treasure. According to the Finnish garbage law enacted in 1994, garbage makers must classify the garbage and then send it to the garbage treatment plant by garbage trucks for classified treatment and recycling. The Metropolitan Waste Management Authority has made specific regulations in accordance with the Waste Act: for example, apartment buildings, office buildings, stores and restaurants that produce more than 50 kilograms of waste paper and cardboard per week must separate the waste paper and cardboard and put it in special bins; and residential buildings with more than 10 households producing more than 50 kilograms of bio-waste per week must set up special bio-waste bins. Bio-waste refers to biodegradable organic compounds such as leftover food, weeds and plants. The Waste Management Authority publishes the booklet "Guide to Household Waste", which specifically instructs residents on how to separate and recycle their waste.
Recycling bins of different colors are located in residential areas and shopping centers in all Finnish towns and cities. Finns are used to putting old newspapers, empty glass bottles and old clothes into the bins when they are out and about, or taking their garbage directly to the waste separation points at the three waste disposal centers in the Helsinki area. The recycling points then send the metal waste to metal treatment plants for recycling, glass bottles to glass factories for raw materials, wood waste to cogeneration plants for fuel, and paper and cardboard waste to paper mills for reuse. For hazardous waste such as waste oil, sulfuric acid, batteries and pharmaceuticals, the Waste Management Bureau sends special trucks to collect them in the spring and fall of each year, and then sends them to factories specializing in the treatment of hazardous waste for special incineration, and uses the heat generated by the incineration to generate electricity.
"What is taken from the people is used for the people." All the costs of disposing of the city's garbage come from the garbage disposal fees paid by residents, which are determined by the capacity of the garbage cans and the number of times they are dumped. To encourage residents to separate their garbage, the fee for separated garbage is generally much lower than the fee for mixed garbage.
The Finnish authorities attach great importance to environmental protection in the process of waste disposal. Located 25 kilometers away from the capital Helsinki, the Emmetssoo Waste Disposal Center is the largest waste disposal center in Northern Europe, which was built in 1987, with a staff of 30, covering an area of 190 hectares. 2001, the center's garbage disposal reached 680,000 tons, of which 310,000 tons of garbage was recycled.
In August this year, an innovatively designed waste separation and recycling station was put into operation at this center. Residents and businesses in the neighborhood can drive their cars directly onto the waste sorting platform at the recycling station and place their waste into the appropriate recycling trailer bins according to the signs on the sorting sign.
The center also has a bio-waste decomposition plant, which specializes in degrading bio-waste to make fertilizer soil, and in 2001, the plant produced 15,000 cubic meters of this high-quality fertilizer soil for gardens.
After all the waste has been separated and recycled, there is still a significant amount of mixed waste dumped in landfills. In order to further reduce the amount of waste dumped into the landfill, the center plans to build a new mixed waste treatment plant in 2005 to re-segregate the remaining mixed waste, so that only waste that cannot be recycled (such as plastics) will be transported to the landfill. This will not only significantly reduce the size of the landfill site, but will also eliminate odors from the air as a result of the complete separation of biowaste. In addition, the mixed waste treatment plant will separate nearly 200,000 tons of combustible waste per year, generating 600,000 kilowatt hours of energy.
In recent years, the center has paid special attention to improving environmental aspects to minimize the impact on the surrounding environment. The center monitors air quality and underground infiltration water in the surrounding area, and collects the infiltration water generated from waste disposal in a temporary cistern and introduces it to a nearby sewage treatment plant for treatment. At the same time, advanced equipment is installed at the landfill to recover biogas, and a biogas power station is being prepared for use by residents in the surrounding area.
According to departmental plans, by 2007, the traditional way of dumping and burying garbage will be completely abandoned, all kinds of garbage will be maximized, and any remaining garbage will be used as fuel to produce heat energy.
In recent years, waste minimization has become the starting point for Finland's municipal waste disposal efforts. On Aug. 14 this year, the Finnish government adopted a plan to nearly double the garbage tax in three years in an effort to reduce the amount of waste in the country.
In order to reduce the amount of garbage as soon as possible and improve the utilization rate of garbage, the Finnish government will also take other strong measures. For example, certain restrictions will be placed on the amount of biological waste that can be dumped into landfills, and product manufacturers and importers will be held more accountable for handling the waste that they are associated with, among other things. In addition, the relevant government departments will further participate in and promote the development of the waste disposal industry, and increase the efforts of research and training in waste disposal.