NOWA, the Nordic Waste Management Vision project, develops sustainable waste management practices in the target region of Finland, Sweden and Norway.

The project aims to promote international cooperation in the development of a common waste market. The aim is to promote and facilitate the exchange of information and practices between waste management stakeholders and to promote the harmonisation of regulations for cross-border waste shipments.

“Municipal waste management companies are working with similar challenges in the Nordic countries, so it is great to gain experience and insights from others. We hope to achieve greater cooperation between the Nordic countries and thereby promote the circular economy and, among other things, improve the efficiency of waste management logistics,” comments Antero Kiljunen, Circular Economy Manager at Kiertokaari Oy.

The objectives of the NOWA project include, as already mentioned, improving cross-border cooperation, reducing administrative burdens, developing incentives and synergy solutions for waste management, improving information management and dialogue, and promoting understanding of the waste market. The intention is to establish a kind of waste council, the Arctic Waste Forum, between the project partner countries, which will define a strategy to facilitate cross-border waste management cooperation.

NOWA is an Interreg Aurora-funded project involving cooperation between several partners in Finland, Norway and Sweden. In Finland, the project is led by Kajaani University of Applied Sciences (KAMK), and the partners are Haurun Jäteauto Ltd, Kiertokaari Ltd and Macon Ltd. In Norway the main partner is Remiks Miljøpark Ltd, and in Sweden Restproduktbearbetning i Boden Ltd.