The utilization of loose surplus soils, mainly clays, has been stagnant for years in the capital region, and even high-quality crushed concrete is not always suitable for construction. Where would you find solutions to circular economy problems in the construction industry?
Text and pictures: Kaisa Salminen
The EU Commission's goal is to use at least 70 percent of all construction and demolition waste as material in 2020. The expectations are largely focused on the infrastructure sector, because a large part of the waste in the construction sector is earth materials.
Now, clean soil materials are dumped in landfills, which are constantly moving further away from, for example, the capital region. There will be a truck rally around Uuttamaa, big transport costs, emissions, noise and traffic jams. The bus network also wears out.
The team of experts gathered at Uusimaa's ELY center proposes more temporary storage places as the primary solution.
"Interim storage, even on a small scale, would bring many more recycling opportunities. With that, it could be noticed that it would be even more economical to find the directly next destination for soil materials that are difficult to recycle. Now, as a rule, loose clays are taken directly to the landfill and we don't even consider their utilization", who started as Kreate's business director in the fall Tuomo Joutsenoja says.
"How to manage interim storage is the key to the success of recycling," he estimates.
The formula skips intermediate storage
Director of Sitowine's Circular economy and project solutions division Eija Ehrukainen according to the zoning guidelines currently do not include the idea that some plot of land could be reserved for the temporary storage of soil materials.
"Only rarely do the schedules fit together so well that direct recycling from one job site to another - or especially within the same job site - could be successful," he says. "The planner looks at long-term visions and temporary storage can be considered against the plan."
"Yes, it is currently a formula that replaces intermediate storage. When the area is being built, you should think about where you can find an undisturbed place for temporary storage. It could be replaced by a park later, when the area is built up to a certain point," says Ehrukainen.
Chief inspector of Uusimaa ELY center Vesa Suominen considers the phasing of projects also important. In regional development projects, you should think of a corner where recycling or utilization can be practiced for as long as possible.
According to Joutsenoja, it could also make sense to do regional projects in even bigger chunks than the current ones. You should also consider in good time where green areas and noise protection are needed, because recycled soil materials would be especially useful in them.
"Working methods should be changed in the entire chain, from zoning to planning and regional development," emphasizes Kreaten Joutsenoja.
Many steps are needed
Saving the world won't do well in the competition, even if it is enough motivation to recycle. However, according to Joutsenoja, the majority of operators in the infrastructure sector recycle whenever it makes economic sense.
"For example, moraine is processed into soil raw material, and the surplus is used for filling. However, circular economy projects should be better taken into account by reserving places for recycling in the zoning," says Joutsenoja.
"With land use fees that are higher than today, it would make more economic sense to refine the masses rather than send them to the landfill. In this way, even masses that cannot be utilized as such would be put to good use," he continues.
Chairman of INFRA ry Nina Lindström reminds, however, that the mere increase in land use fees does not eliminate the fact that both interim storage and landfill sites have been allocated to private contractors too little, especially in the capital region. Municipalities should take this into account better in zoning and regional planning.
"We also need a simpler permit process. One can also ask whether recycling is hindered by complex legislation that scares away contractors, because they may not be able to interpret things in such a way that they believe they are recycling correctly," Lindström reflects.
The role of the subscriber is to share opinions
Could the customer promote circular economy solutions? This divides opinion. SitoWise's Eija Ehrukainen thinks that the ordering party should take on a more decisive role than at present. According to Timo Joutsenoja, innovation should not be left to cities and municipalities.
"In public procurement, companies should be given more space to present alternative sustainable solutions. If development and the search for solutions are only the responsibility of public bodies and other customers, development will end there," Joutsenoja states.
Ehrukainen believes that municipalities and cities should at least be able to designate more temporary storage locations, because that would bring builders on the same page.
Vesa Suominen of the ELY Center would like to see public actors as pioneers, because they are required by law to promote the waste hierarchy.
"This has been happening little by little, for example in the ELY center's own works on the side of the road. If public actors widely use soil materials and demolition waste for useful purposes, good practices will spread elsewhere," Suominen estimates.
An entrepreneur needs predictability
Many things influence the success of circular economy projects: zoning and land use, materials and costs.
The MASA regulation, which is being prepared, is intended to facilitate the utilization of soil materials and storage possibilities.
"I'm not sure if we always have to draft new laws, but predictability and long-termism in legislation, in the interpretation and application of laws would create a basis for making investments and advancing development projects. Of course, from the point of view of the supervising authority, companies should also act proactively and not as it happens," says Kreate's Tuomo Joutsenoja.
Vesa Suominen similarly calls for more foresight and planning in construction, because the legislation is rather slow-paced.
"It would be important for the customer to start the permit applications and not tell the builder to apply for permits, because that practically excludes all beneficial uses that require an environmental permit," adds Ehrukainen.
"We would even make a sledding hill"
Thought models would require a wider change. According to Ehrukainen, with current standards, park structures will be so expensive that they will not be built.
"A hectic urban environment is created, where no one enjoys themselves. Already in the project planning phase, you should think about where the masses will be placed based on the principle of proximity. After all, it's crazy that, for example, noise barriers can't be completed. Clean clay soils, which would remain in lumps, are taken to a landfill. If nothing else, we would even make a sledding hill."
Digitization is hoped to increase trust in the direction of subscribers and the authority. In the infrastructure sector, 3D models are used, and the vision is that all information about structures would be stored electronically, in which case there is no need for a documenter, but the information travels with the material.
"When the construction model is made into a maintenance model, the customer and the authority would have information about which material was used where. We are moving towards this, but development should be accelerated. The challenge is how to transfer the information to the authorities," says Ehrukainen.
"In Europe, crushed concrete is made into standard products and End of Waste criteria are used. Crushed concrete is not called waste like we do. Of course, rules are needed, but it should be possible to study what can be put into the soil without spoiling it, removing too many fears," says Ehrukainen.
"Now the legislation is interpreted according to the worst actor and the whole chain suffers. The right solution would be found somewhere in the middle - i.e. laws would not be regulated and interpreted too strictly, but wild and free activities would not be allowed either."
WHERE ARE YOU GOING, CAPITAL REGION?
According to the Environmental Administration's VAHTI information system, almost 2016 million tons of surplus soil was received at Espoo's Kulmakorven landfill in 1,5.
At the Pitkäsuo landfill in Vantaa, the corresponding figure was well over 600 tons.
The city of Helsinki was forced to learn to recycle soil materials, although mostly from its own land. The reason can be found in neighboring Vantaa, which a few years earlier stopped receiving surplus land from its neighboring municipalities.
There are a lot of large construction sites and regional projects underway in Helsinki, but there are almost no planned temporary storage areas.
"Private builders were left stranded and that caused pressure to look for casting locations from far away", Business Director of Kreate Tuomo Joutsenoja ponders.
The whole story was previously published in INFRA Uusimaa magazine 2/2017.
Also read INFRA's blog:
Valid recycled materials must be circulated - taxes on natural resources are the wrong way