Circular economy is an economic model where production and use are planned so that no waste is created and material and their value remain in circulation. Circular economy aims at developing operation models that minimise the amount of waste created in production processes.
Westenergy plays a key role within circular economy as that part of the waste that cannot be recycled, can be safely and efficiently reformed into electricity and heating. Ashes of the plant are not residue either but they can be used as base material in earthwork and in the production of different concrete elements. Additionally, metals in the ash are separated and recycled.
In an ideal situation, in addition to materials, energy, water and even carbon dioxide are captured and circulate in a closed loop. Although Westenergy’s core mission is operating a waste-to-energy plant, we are also a circular economy company in the sense that we actively promote the development of the circular economy by participating in a variety of circular economy projects and initiatives. To learn more about our circular economy projects, click here.
All materials cannot be recycled, for instance, because they are unclean or unsafe and simply due to a lack of usage of such materials. Recycling products that manufactured with different materials is also challenging. Occasionally materials are also discarded in recycling facilities as so-called rejects. These material flows can be directed to waste-to-energy plants and utilised as energy instead of landfilling. Westenergy was originally established as a solution to the landfill problem.
The biggest drawback of landfills is methane emissions. Methane is produced when biodegradable waste decomposes, and it is up to 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Landfills also require large areas of land and can cause soil and groundwater contamination if they are not properly constructed and managed. In addition, landfilling is the least desirable option from a resource recovery perspective, as valuable materials and energy contained in waste are lost. For these reasons, landfilling has been restricted or banned in many developed countries. A far more sustainable solution is to utilize waste in waste-to-energy plants, where the energy contained in the waste can be recovered and put to beneficial use.
Energy recovered from waste can be refined into electricity and district heat in waste-to-energy plants.
District heat can be used to heat up houses and apartments. Westenergy generates approximately 400 gigawatt-hours of district heat each year, covering around 50–60% of the total district heating demand in the Vaasa region.
Electricity is more versatile: with the amount of energy in a single trash bag, one can use oven for 30 minutes, drive an electric car for 20 kilometres or use the vacuum cleaner for an hour!
Westenergy generates approximately 85 gigawatt-hours of electricity each year, enough to meet the annual electricity consumption of around 4,000 electrically heated detached houses.
Waste doesn’t disappear completely after incineration but something remains still – ash and unburned material. Larger metal items are separated from the ash already at the plant, and they are recycled.
Ash is delivered for further treatment which means that different sand- and gravel-like materials, that is, so-called minerals are separated and used in the production of different concrete elements and as base material in infrastructure. Smaller pieces of metal are also separated and recycled.
The flue gases of the plant are purified in several stages, before being released into the atmosphere through the plant’s chimney stack. First, ammonia-water is added to to neutralise nitrogen oxides. After heat transfer, lime and activated carbon are added as they bind acidic impurities and heavy metals. Next, impurities are filtered out from the flue gases in the fabric filter, and lastly, the flue gases are purified in the flue gas scrubber. Because of the complex purification process nearly all the impurities can be captured from the flue gases.
Environmental permit creates the framework for the plant’s operation, and there are strict emission limits outlined in the permit. The emissions are continuously monitored with accurate measuring devices.
Westenergy’s goal is that, in the future, the carbon dioxide contained in its flue gases can also be captured and utilized. To support this objective, Westenergy is actively involved in the ECCU (Energy Carbon Capture and Utilisation) project, which aims to construct and bring into operation a world-class carbon capture plant. Read more about the project here.
There are about 40 employees at Westenergy. The operation of Westenergy’s waste-to-energy plant – that is, the overall control and operation of the facility – is managed by the Production Manager together with a team of 15 plant operators. The maintenance team is responsible for ensuring the plant’s day-to-day operational reliability and managing any technical issues or equipment failures. In addition, Westenergy employs specialists and managers in various roles, including the Managing Director, Environmental Manager, Communications Officer, IT Manager, and H&S Engineer.
Recycling and energy recovery of waste support each other. Energy recovery was invented to fulfill the gaps in waste management: previously combustible waste ended up in landfills where energy and materials were wasted.
Waste-to-energy plants have been designed to utilise mixed materials. Using only plastic would create too high a temperature on the grate and this could cause damages in the equipment and constructions.
There are a lot of different types of plastic out there and not all the types are suitable for recycling. There are also dirty and contaminated plastics that are safer to handle in waste-to-energy plants than recycling facilities or landfills.
Westenergy processes approximately 200,000 tonnes of waste annually. The majority of this waste originates from the service areas of our owner companies – seven municipal waste management companies in Western Finland. To ensure efficient utilization of the plant’s capacity, we may also receive waste from other parts of Europe when necessary. Read more about our owner companies and operating principles here.
Millions of truckloads of municipal waste are still being landfilled across Europe every year, causing harm to the climate and the environment. By transporting non-recyclable waste to facilities such as Westenergy, it can be recovered efficiently and converted into useful energy with a high degree of efficiency while minimizing environmental impact. This approach helps reduce landfill-related emissions and supports a more sustainable circular economy by making productive use of waste that cannot be recycled.
