One of Finland’s largest municipality-owned energy companies, Vantaan Energia Oy has announced that it has made an investment decision on the construction of a high-temperature incineration plant treating hazardous waste. It will be built adjacent to its current waste-to-energy plant in Vantaa.
The planned plant is designed to process the waste generated by households and industries, and that is classified as hazardous and unsuitable for recycling. In terms of households, typical waste classified as hazardous includes, for example, medicines, oily materials, paints, solvents, glues, and varnishes.
Hazardous waste is also generated in the processes of the paint and pharmaceutical industries.
The new plant aims to meet customer demand and to make Finland more self-sufficient with respect to the treatment of hazardous waste. Significant amounts of such waste have been exported from Finland to Europe for treatment.
The heat produced in the process will be utilized in the district heating network in Vantaa replacing some of the need for fossil gas and contributing to the phase-out of fossil fuels.
Best available technologies and carbon capture
According to Vantaan Energia, the plant has been designed to meet the current and future requirements of the environmental legislation and will utilize the best available modern technology, which will guarantee a sustainable and energy-efficient treatment process in terms of the environment.
The plant is also designed to include carbon capture and further utilization, as a result of which Vantaan Energia will be able to offer its customers carbon-neutral treatment of waste that is classified as hazardous.
With the high-temperature incineration plant treating hazardous waste we will be able to offer our customers a comprehensive solution for the treatment of non-recyclable waste. The project is an important part of the implementation of our strategy to build an increasingly effective waste recycling chain together with our customers. We also aim to process carbon sent for energy recovery and turn it into secondary products with the aid of carbon capture, said Kalle Patomeri, Production Director of City Energy at Vantaan Energia.
Technology partners selected
The project will be implemented in partnership with Valmet Technologies Oy, which will deliver the flue gas cleaning plant, the rotary furnace supplier Hitachi Zosen Inova Steinmüller GmbH, and Sweco Industry Oy as responsible for the plant’s design, procurement, project management, and development services.
The construction will start in November 2022, and the plant is scheduled for completion in 2025.
Vantaa Energy aims to phase out fossil fuels in energy production as quickly as possible and progress towards carbon negativity in 2030.
