Vestia Sorting Yard offers an innovative solution for municipal waste management – the concept is in use for the fourth year in Pyhäjärvi

Author: Sini Liikanen

Pyhäjärvi is one of the hundred municipalities in Finland committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Known as Hinku municipalities, they strive to increase the use of renewable energy and to improve energy efficiency, for example, which are also directly reflected in waste management.

When the waste management company Vestia started developing a new kind of solution for municipal waste management, Pyhäjärvi was one of the first municipalities to express its interest.

– We wanted to remodel our waste station in the first wave. The old station was small and, as a result, difficult to figure out. It was also only open when an employee was present, which limited use considerably, explains Henrik Kiviniemi, Mayor of Pyhäjärvi.

Cooperation was started immediately and the opening of the Vestia Sorting Yard was celebrated in Pyhäjärvi in November 2020.

Concept honed for a long time

The Vestia Sorting Yard is an automated sorting yard that enables the flexible recycling of waste. It is a user-friendly and cost-effective solution that combines easy accessibility, smooth remote monitoring and infrastructure that supports logistics.

Vestia Project Manager Jukka Saukko says that the planning of the concept first started in 2017. At that time, the company had several predecessors of the sorting yard, called recyclable waste stations, which were only open once a week. When society began to change and people’s need for recycling increased, their operations had to be redesigned.

– The number of visitors grew rapidly, the volume of the stations was no longer sufficient and the employees were unable to receive all the quantities of waste. The customer satisfaction survey also revealed that the opening hours and operation of the yards did not meet the needs of the customers. The emergency solution was to buy one additional day for the stations, which ended up costing more than 100,000 euros. The cost structure could not withstand this, and so we had to rethink things, Saukko explains.

An examination of the operation of the recyclable waste stations revealed that up to half of the waste station attendant’s working hours were spent on pricing and receiving payments. A more cost-effective solution was needed for the situation, and the answer was found in a self-service model: Today, customers pay for the services using a self-service machine, sort their waste independently and receive help remotely, if necessary.

– People know what to do on their own in car parks and at petrol stations, and so why not also at waste stations? Saukko asks.

Easy-to-use self-service station

Vestia Sorting Yards are already in use in 16 localities. Even though the yards are located in different parts of Vestia’s operating area and one is outside of it in Lapland, they are all monitored conveniently from Ylivieska. Customers are guided remotely when necessary, which frees up the municipalities’ resources and reduces costs.

According to Jukka Saukko, most of the sorting yard customers know what to do on their own. When a yard is opened in a municipality, 80 per cent of the residents immediately use it without help, and a year later, this figure is 90 per cent. The remaining ten per cent need instructions regarding, for example, where the waste should be sorted.

– Customers are not left alone even though they are acting independently because help is always available via remote monitoring. The control centre monitors the use of the services and gives instructions, if necessary, Saukko says.

Even though the Vestia Sorting Yard is designed around remote monitoring, the concept can also be combined with traditional operations. This has been done in Pyhäjärvi.

– It is important to us that there are times during the week when the waste station attendant is present. Remote support is also there if you need it, and with the digitalisation of society, many people also know how to make use of it, Henrik Kiviniemi says.

Interested in the Vestia Sorting Yard?