Westenergy

Westenergy is a modern circular economy company.

Westenergy operates within circular economy. The company owns a modern Waste-to-Energy plant where combustible waste is refined into electricity, heat and recovered materials. Energy produced in the plant has a significant impact in reducing the need for fossil fuels in energy production, and Westenergy produces about 60 % of the district heating needed in the Vaasa region. By producing material for earthwork and recycled metals and by participating actively in developing circular economy in the operation area, Westenergy is a creating a cleaner and more sustainable future.

 

Owners

Westenergy is owned by seven municipal waste management companies located in the western part of Finand – hence the name Westenergy. The company was founded in 2007 by Botniarosk, Lakeuden Etappi, Millespakka, Stormossen and Vestia to manage the energy recovery of waste. Loimi-Hämeen Jätehuolto joined Westenergy’s owner companies in 2020 and Ekorosk in January 2023.

Westenergy’s operation area covers about 70 municipalities which is over 20 % of all the municipalities in Finland. Our aim is to offer high-quality and cost-efficient service to all our owner companies so that they can, in turn, offer similar and similarly priced service for unrecyclable material to their clients – altogether some 670 000 people.

Operation

Westenergy’s operation principle is unique as Westenergy operates in between two sectors that are developing rapidly: waste management and energy sector. The purpose of Westenergy’s plant is not just to get rid of waste – we want to make sure that all materials are refined in the best possible way so that different materials, energy and in the future, even water and carbon dioxide could circulate in a closed loop. We work in close co-operation with our owner companies to makes sure that only combustible material that cannot be recycled, would be refined into energy in our plant.

We utilize about 200 000 tonnes of waste in our Waste-to-Energy plant yearly. Starting from August 2024, we have also begun utilizing non-recyclable municipal waste from countries other than Finland. The proportion of material imported from outside Finland accounts for approximately 10–20% of the waste processed by Westenergy, which amounts to 15 000 – 30 000 tons annually. The deliveries originate from areas where landfilling of municipal waste is still quite common – Italy, the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland. We work closely with our owner companies and partners to ensure that only non-recyclable waste is sent to the facility for processing.

Energy is produced in co-operation with the local energy company Vaasan Sähkö. The compensation Westenergy receives from the produced energy is tied to the current price of energy in the market. Recovering energy from such waste that cannot otherwise be utilised reduces dependency on fossil fuels in energy production and leads to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions. Westenergy produces about 60 percent of the district heating in the Vaasa region with energy refined from waste. In this way, Westenergy is taking the Vaasa region closer to carbon-neutral energy production!

Westenergy is a non-profit company, operated according to absorption principle and doesn’t pay dividends to the owner companies.

We want to make sure that all materials are utilised in the best possible way.