Waste management in the Northern Nordics faces most of the same challenges as other sparsely populated areas, where the main cost drives are long transportation distances, low volumes of waste and minimal local processing possibilities. This means most of the different waste streams are treated within the countries, before being exported or imported for further treatment.

The NOWA project assessed the possibilities for establishing a waste market in the Northern regions of Finland, Sweden and Norway by aggregating the regions’ waste streams volumes, so potential future investment in waste infrastructure could have enough “local” waste to be financially viable. In terms of geography, cross-border transportation distances within the above mentioned regions are often shorter than the current routes used, which often involve long domestic transports. However, national processing tends to be easier, and more cost effective compared to import and export across the borders.

This report focuses on waste streams and comparison between different waste systems as part of the NOWA Project. The report and data collection was carried out from the beginning of 2024 up until the end of 2025 and is based on primary data collected from participating companies within the project area. The report is part of a series of reports and outputs produced in the project.