LAHTI REGION ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW Hollola Lahti 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS Prologue 3 Environmental management 4 1. Climate change, energy and emissions 5 2. Comfort, healthiness and safety of the living environment 10 3. Biodiversity and cultural environment 13 4. Quality and volume of groundwater 16 5. Water quality, recreational and natural values of water systems 19 6. Dissemination of environmental information and residents’ opportunities to act 21 7. Municipalities and group companies support the development of environmental responsibility throughout the region 23 8. Environmental balance sheet 27 2 PROLOGUE This environmental review for the Lahti Region is the model municipalities in terms of resource wisdom in first to be compiled for the new areas of Lahti and summer 2016. Also worthy of mention is the gov- Hollola. Lahti and Nastola merged into the new Lah- ernment’s key project funding to increase the effi- ti, while Hollola and Hämeenkoski merged to form ciency of the city centre’s stormwater management, the new Hollola as of the beginning of 2016. This which was granted to the City of Lahti towards the can be seen in the form of considerable changes in end of 2016. many of the 2016 figures of the indicators present- The strategy ratified by the City Council of Lahti ed in this review compared to the corresponding in April 2016 includes the objective of strengthen- figures for previous years. The reporting complies ing the city’s development as an environmentally- with the new municipal distribution and municipal friendly city. Reaching the objective requires that boundaries, and many of the figures are therefore we continue to take responsibility for good envi- not directly comparable with the previous years. ronment and strengthening environmental re- Special trends emerging in 2016 included the sponsibility. continuous increase in the waste utilisation rate and We are encouraging the new municipalities, positive signs of the increasing popularity of cycling units, municipal employees, companies and citi- in Hollola and Lahti. We can also take price in the in- zens to continue working together for a cleaner ternational recognition of the region’s environmen- and safer environment. One of the visions recorded tal competence: as the result of an application pre- in the City of Lahti’s strategy is: “We will succeed in- pared during the autumn, Lahti was shortlisted as ternationally as a bold environmental city of people one of the five finalists for the 2019 European Green and businesses” Let’s work together to make this Capital Award. We have also received recognition in vision a reality! Finland: Lahti was chosen as one of Finland’s eight Päivi Rahkonen Jyrki Myllyvirta Mayor of Hollola Mayor of Lahti 3 Environmental management The joint environmental policy of the for- The work as a model municipality of resource wis- mer three municipalities was still in force in dom involved committing to prepare a long-term resource wisdom plan, which was named the City’s Lahti and Hollola in 2016. As of the begin- new environmental programme in Lahti. The objec- ning of the year, Hollola and Lahti have had tives of the work include achieving a carbon-neutral, their own environmental services instead wasteless urban community whose consumption will be at a globally sustainable level by 2050. One of the former joint environmental unit of of the set aims of the preparation work was to sub- three municipalities. During the year, and mit a new ambitious environmental programme to partially due to organisational changes, the City Council to decide on by the end of 2017. there was a gradual shift towards a more Green Office work, which has involved ten of- fice units in Lahti, has also been part of the joint extensive environmental view in the man- management of environmental affairs. Green Of- agement of environmental issues. The aim fice is an environmental programme for offices co- for the future is to integrate environmental ordinated by WWF Finland with the aim of reduc- ing the consumption of energy, water, paper and control more tightly into strategy work, to- other materials in offices and finding more sustain- gether with master planning. able solutions for work and commuting. Some of the offices have already been participating in the programme for five years. 4 1. Climate change, energy and emissions Measures to mitigate climate change, such as im- possible to proceed with the project. There have proving energy efficiency, continued in the Lahti also been plans to replace the use of fossil fuels in region in 2016. Towards the end of the year, the the future. City of Lahti took part in the European Green Capi- Lahti Energy has also taken its first steps in the tal competition. International competitions provide field of solar power. The first solar panels, with an Lahti with visibility among other environmentally area totalling approximately 50 m², were installed conscious cities. The European Green Capital ap- at the Central Hospital’s heating plant in autumn plication addressed twelve themes, which describe 2016. Towards the end of the year, installations be- the state of the environment in the City of Lahti, gan at the Teivaanmäki power plant, where approxi- progress in environmental matters and future plans. mately 260 m² of panels will be installed. The total Lahti fared well in the qualifying first round and was power generated by the solar power plants is 55 kW. shortlisted as a finalist for the 2019 European Green The operations of power plants generate a sig- Capital Award together with four other cities. The nificant amount of ash every year. The ash can be winner will be published in early June 2017. used as a substitute for natural soil and rock mate- rial in earth construction, for example. Lahti Energy Lahti Energy plays a significant role in has been actively looking for utilisation opportuni- reducing greenhouse gas emissions ties, and agreements made in 2016 have been so Lahti Energy’s key environmental goals are to re- successful that practically all reusable ash has been duce carbon dioxide emissions, minimise envi- reused. In addition, previously landfilled ash has ronmental effects, improve material and energy been delivered for utilisation from the ash dump- efficiency and increase environmental awareness. ing area. Annual milestones are set and concrete measures Lahti Energy joined the action plan for energy are taken to reach the objectives. services of the national energy efficiency agreement Significant steps were taken during 2016 to re- for a new term as a group. The new term will cover duce carbon dioxide emissions, when the biofuel- the years 2017–2025. Similarly to previous years, powered Polttimo process heat plant started its Lahti Energy also sponsored the materials for the operations and the environmental permit for the Energy-Saving Week for second-graders and their Kymijärvi III thermal plant was finalised, making it teachers in its supply area. Monitoring indicators Comparison year 2012 2013 2014 2015* Electricity consumption, kWh/resident/year Lahti 2000: 8,620 9,051 8,712 8,780 8,497 Hollola 2007: 8,178 7,976 7,777 7,446 7,331 Nastola 2007: 13,127 11,673 11,943 11,551 - * Electricity consumption figures are reported for the previous year 5 Comparison year Monitoring indicators 2001 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Nominal consumption of energy in the city’s/municipality’s office buildings kWh/m³ Lahti 18.2 17.9 18.2 16.9 15.7 16.9 Hollola 20.4 23.0 24.15 23.60 - Nastola 22.4 17.6 17.88 26.59 - Heat consumption in the city’s/municipality’s office buildings kWh/m³ Lahti 52.1 43.4 41.1 40.7 39.1 40.6 Hollola 31.2 34.5 31.22 31.47 - Nastola 48.2 42.9 41.32 42.63 - The vehicle traffic change index could not be updated for 2016 due to the replacement of the traffic lights control system, which prevented the collection of traffic count data. Motorisation, or the number of registered passenger cars per one thousand residents, continues to grow. Comparison year Monitoring indicators 2001 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Relative vehicle traffic change index Lahti (10 different sites where traffic volumes are measured) 100 108.3 109.0 106.2 105.7 no data Motorisation, number of passenger cars / 1,000 residents Lahti 387 492 502 507 512 540 Hollola 392 588 606 615 631 658 Nastola 422 599 614 621 642 - The carbon dioxide emissions of energy production plants and the industry have increased slightly year-on-year due to growth in the emissions of the Kymijärvi power plant. The 2016 figures also include the carbon dioxide emissions of the former municipality of Nastola, which accounted for 929 tonnes. Comparison year Monitoring indicators 1997 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Carbon dioxide emissions of energy production plants and the industry, t, Lahti 691,300 610,300 692,900 566,232 495,220 520,287 6 $View of the LATE sorting plant that entered pilot use at the Kujala waste centre in 2016. PHJ enhanced the utilisation of waste The utilisation rate of municipal waste received Almost all waste received by Päijät-Hämeen Jäte- by PHJ amounted to 96% in 2016. Of the waste, huolto Oy (PHJ) was utilised as materials or energy. 29% was utilised as material and 67% as energy. Fuel was made from separately collected energy A total of 4% of municipal waste was landfilled, or waste for Lahti Energy’s Kymijärvi II power plant 15 kg per resident. and other power plants. Mixed waste was also sent A mechanical sorting plant was built at the Ku- to be utilised in energy production.