Extraction of compostable soil from household waste At Björnhyttans recycling center compostable soil is extracted from the household waste.

How it works:
Household waste is emptied on the conveyor belt and then it undergoes a homogenization process and several separation steps to separate the organic waste from the inorganic waste.

Purification of wastewater in Borlänge In Borlänge there are two main wastewater treatment plants

•Borlänge
•Idkerberget

In addition to these, there are also two smaller treatment plants located in Barkar Gärdet and Alderbäcken.

In a year approximately 5,000,000 m3 of water are being purified.

Do you have a waste management problem and need ideas about how to handle it? And do you want to generate a profit in the process? You can learn from Sweden’s Gävle region, where you’ll find pioneering waste management sites, biogas plants, compost plants and waste management experts. Gästrike Återvinnare (Gästrike Recyclers) is an organisation that works on sustainable social development by imparting knowledge and providing solutions, enabling people to be involved in and contribute to a better environment.

District heating, district cooling, electricity and wood pellets in a smart combination for the next generation. Falu Energy & Water produce district heating, district cooling, electricity and wood pellets from clean wood chips and biomass residue from the nearby forest industry. At Västermalmsverket in Falun the energy is locally produced and distributed to local residents. The eletricity produced is equivalent to 80 000 MWh per year.

The municipality-owned waste plant NSR works with developing all stages of waste management for six municipalities in southern Sweden. NSR refers to its holistic approach to waste management as ‘from table to soil’, which incorporates various aspects of recycling, from smart kerbside waste collection to turning food waste into fuel and biofertilizer. NSR (Nordvästra Skånes Renhållnings AB) manages waste from 330,000 residents in the municipalities of Helsingborg, Höganäs, Bjuv, Åstorp, Ängelholm and Båstad.

A new water purification system uses floating walls, or baffles, to improve purification. The solution has been developed by a Swedish company and can be used in all kinds of dams, for surface or storm water, leachate, industrial water and sewerage water. A high level of purification in dams and basins requires the water to travel sufficient distance so the particles have time to form sediment on the bottom before the outlet.

Dåva Landfill and Waste Center in Umeå AB (Dåva DAC) takes care of many types of waste. Some examples are ashes from waste incineration and combustion of biofuels, contaminated soils, various waste products from the industry, waste for landfill from households and businesses, asbestos and sulphide soil. We see this as exciting wastes, often with great potential of recycling. We work with flexible solutions, in order to recycle as much as possible. There are many advantages of sorting the material correctly and extracting metals.

Two pilot projects in Sweden are using algae cultivation to achieve a number of sustainable effects. Besides reducing carbon dioxide emissions and purifying waste water to minimise over-fertilization, the algae cultivation produces energy-rich algae mass that can be used for biodiesel and animal feed. Research into algae and how it can be used for various sustainability purposes is increasing around the world. Apart from research in Canada, it has never been carried out as far north as Umeå, Sweden.

Increased efforts in environmental technology is crucial to achieve a more sustainable use of society’s resources. MTC in Umeå specialises in the implementation of emerging environmental technologies, focusing on waste, contaminated water and contaminated soil. MTC is a large test bed facility for demonstration of new and innovative environmental technology in a real environment. MTC performs feasibility studies, pilot tests and full scale deployment.

Domsjö Fabriker is part of the Aditya Birla Group, the world’s largest of viscose fibre producer. This cutting-edge biorefinery is developing the textiles of the future for the world’s catwalks, from northern spruce trees. This is creating a sustainable bioeconomy that uses the forest’s unique renewable resources. Cellulose is Domsjö’s biggest product, although the refinery also produces lignin and bioethanol, all of which originate from Swedish forests. The cellulose is produced from timber from conifer trees, mainly grown in northern Sweden.