Reijo Karhinen. © Kai Widell
The Putting circular economy into practice magazine of the Circwaste project was published in September as an appendix to Kauppalehti. The magazine covers the Circwaste's current circular economy work from the perspective of interest to companies. The magazine had a circulation of 133,000.
Finland's goal is to be a carbon-neutral circular economy society by 2035. The role of business in the circular economy is significant. “Finland aims to be a model country for the circular economy. Succeeding in that depends a lot on business operations,” says Tuuli Myllymaa, Project Manager of the Circwaste project.
“As Finland moves to a carbon-neutral circular economy, companies will face a major and rapid change. There will be completely new business areas and the old ones will wither away,” emphasises Commercial Counsellor, Professor Reijo Karhinen in an interview with the magazine.
New business from magnet recycling to biomass utilisation
The magazine highlights interesting circular economy innovations and their business potential.
Prizztech Oy found out whether strong magnets can be recycled by pulverising. The company’s pilot operations have been more successful than expected and have shown that recycling magnets from large generators is profitable. Outside China, magnets are manufactured by only a few companies, but in Europe there is a great need for them. In Germany and Sweden, a large number of wind turbines are being dismantled, and their generators with magnets could be recycled in Finland and create a new kind of business.
The Golli service reduces product waste. GS1Finland developed a new feature for the service that will allow Golli to operate more efficiently while promoting the circular economy in the retail sector. Now Golli also transmits information about recyclable pallets and Transbox boxes used in the delivery of goods using an identification code attached to the pallet. The recipient immediately sees in what way and when their delivery is arriving and can prepare for the situation. When products are quickly available on store shelves, their sales time is extended, transport volumes and times can be optimised according to consumption, and product losses can be reduced.
The Biomass Atlas application, further developed by Luke in the Circwaste project, on the other hand, illustrates the nationally available biomasses, their quantity and location. The information is helpful when decision-makers are considering zoning or a company is looking for raw material, planning to set up a production facility, or pondering on where to place the processing residue. The map can be used to calculate the quantity of biomass in the area, to examine the restrictions on use and to model the effects of use on sustainable development. Some biomass is suitable as a raw material for cosmetics, fibre, feed or nutrient products.
The magazine also covers, among other things, the utilisation of surplus land in the construction of an industrial area in Rauma, the construction of an advanced biogas ecosystem in Central Finland and the reform of legislation promoting the circular economy.
Check out the magazine
More information
- Tuuli Myllymaa, Project Manager, Head of Unit, Circwaste project, Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, firstname.lastname@syke.fi