NIB finances waste recycling project in Stockholm’s
The Nordic Investment Bank and Stockholm have signed a ten-year SEK1 billion (€97.23 million) to finance projects related to the city’s waste recycling, as well as investments in drinking water, flood protection, and wastewater infrastructure.
Stockholm has set a target to collect and utilise 70% of all food waste from 2023 onwards, compared to 25% in 2018. Since the older and more crowded areas of Stockholm do not have sufficient space to sort household waste at source, the city is investing in a centralised automated optical waste sorting facility to maximise the recycling of garbage into useful resources.
The city will also upgrade the Lovö drinking water plant and distribution network in the Stockholm region to secure its water production for a growing population. The plan is to gradually increase the current capacity of 180,000 cubic meters per day to 320,000 m3 by 2050.
As more houses and roads are being built, the areas for natural filtration and evaporation of rainwater are being reduced. In order to avoid flood damage, the city will upgrade its pipes and ponds for storm water collection and treatment. The upgrade is also adapting the city’s storm water collection for events of heavy precipitation due to climate change. The city will also connect new residential areas and summer cottages to its centralised sewage system - ending inefficient de-centralised treatment of sewage.
