Envac AB aims to contribute to better urban environments through innovative waste collection systems. Nordic countries can help rapidly urbanizing cities achieve UN sustainability goals through sharing best practices in areas like district heating and renewable energy. Key differences in Nordic governance include independent city finances, flat structures, solution-orientation, and trust between public and private sectors. Examples from Stockholm, like district energy networks using sewage and renewable sources, have inspired many but created little export. To increase exports of Nordic sustainable solutions requires intensified public-private cooperation at home and abroad, better documentation of best practices, communicating solutions in multiple languages, and educating foreign decision makers on the Nordic model.

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2. Jonas Törnblom, Senior VP Envac AB
jonas.tornblom@envac.se
SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT –
A NORDIC EXPORT STRATEGY
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3. The standard system for household / commercial waste
Option: Self-emptying litterbins
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4. Envac’s mission
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To contribute to a better urban environment by offering innovative,
rational and sustainable waste collection systems and services

5. HOW COULD THE NORDIC
COUNTRIES BE OF RELEVANCE
TO THE RAPID URBANIZING
CITIES OF THE WORLD?

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UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

7. The Circular Economy Concept

8. Many countries are makig progress, but
• These goals can never be achieved by
further supoptimization or sectorization.
• Only be by cooperation and sharing of
resources across departments and
sectors
• Both public and private
• …and the more mature our economies
get, the larger the need for this
cooperation
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9. The international interest for Nordic best practices is high!
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…but what
could we
do better
to explore
this
interest?

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There are some fundamental differences between the Nordic
societal development and other countries that we need to
understand:
1. The relative financial independence of the cities
2. Very flat organizational structures
3. Solution orientation, rather than government by principals
4. Transparence
5. Trust – the cooperation between the public and private sectors
is not seen as compromising public interests

11. Governance:

12. Eco governance
• Teamwork,
• transparence &
• solution
orientation

13. SOME EXAMPLES FROM
STOCKHOLM AND
SWEDEN

14. Has a heating effect of 225 MW and a
cooling effect of 40 MW, using only cleaned
sewage water as an energy source
The combined heat and
power plant in Hammarby

15. All combustible waste
is incinerated
District heating
and
electricity
Högdalen district heating and power plant

16. The district heating network in Stockholm
• Started in 1953
• 3 separate networks
• District heating
produces 75 % of all
heat required in
Stockholm (50% in
Sweden).
• 75 % of it is based on
renewable sources

17. District Cooling network in Stockholm
Hammarby

18. District heating
and
district cooling
Henriksdals sewage
treatment plant
Hammarby
district heating
plant
Biogas production
Biogas busses
Biogas stove

20. Ventilation normes
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21. Ventilation normes

22. THE IMPORTANCE
OF GOOD EXAMPLES

23. Hammarby Sjöstad and Western Harbour
• Visited by thousands of
international experts, every
year for over 15 years
• Been of inspiration to many
projects internationally
• But created relatively little
Swedish exports

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26. BUT THESE GOOD
EXAMPLES MUST BE
DOCUMMENTED IN
ORDER TO GET
REPLICATED

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Public – private
cooperation is necessary:
• Both in our own
countries in order to
produce excellente
projects
• But also in export
markets to get
confidence in the
Nordic solutions and to
get access to decision
makers

28. What is needed to increase exports of Nordic sustainable urban
solutions?
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• Intensified cooperation between public &
private exports, both at home and abroad
• Better documentation of best practices
• Communication of Nordic best practices (in
more languages than English)
• More excellent pilots but focus on export
driven cooperations
• Training & education of foreign decision
makers in the Nordic governance model
• Project financing & business modelling
competence

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