Waste management

Waste management is divided into household waste, vessel waste and special waste. The amount of household waste collected from the harbour areas is monitored annually, with the goal of minimising the amount generated by way of more effective sorting. Reduction of paper consumption is another goal. Special waste refers to hazardous waste, most of which comprises the oily waste received from vessels.

Vessel waste management

The vessels that sail to the Port of Helsinki on a regular basis take care of waste management directly with waste management companies, which means that the Port of Helsinki provides waste management services mostly for international cruise ships and some freighters. The vessels that operate in regular traffic may be granted an exemption from the dumping obligation of waste by the Finnish Transport Safety Agency (Trafi) if they hold a valid waste management agreement with a qualified waste management company. In compliance with the legislation on vessel waste management, vessels must dump in the harbour their vessel-borne waste that is not allowed to be emptied out in the Baltic Sea according to the Marpol 73/78 Convention or the Helsinki Convention. Harbours must collect a waste management fee from the ships for solid waste and oily waste, even if the vessel does not dump any waste in the harbour. The purpose of this “no special fees” system is to decrease the illegal dumping of waste into the sea.

Vessel waste waters

According to the legislation on the waste water of vessels, ships in international traffic are permitted to drain their untreated lavatory water to the sea when more than 12 nautical miles from the nearest coast, and the treated lavatory waste waters no closer than three nautical miles from the coast. Using a specified kind of treatment equipment, vessels are permitted to drain lavatory waste water to the sea without any restrictions. Even though legislation makes it possible to pump waste waters into the sea, the vessels are increasingly bringing both the lavatory waste waters and other waste waters generated aboard ashore for treatment. The Port of Helsinki aims to promote leaving waste waters ashore, as it does not charge a separate waste water fee on the vessels.

Baltic Sea Challenge

In 2008, the Mayors of Helsinki and Turku initiated the Baltic Sea Challenge, a campaign to protect the Baltic Sea. One of the initiatives in the campaign was to encourage the pumping of the vessel waste waters into the city’s sewage systems and thus on to the sewage treatment plants. The waste waters of all vessels in regular passenger traffic were pumped into the sewage system while the vessels were berthed. International cruise ships have also positively accepted the challenge.

Further information about the campaign: http://www.itamerihaaste.net/in_english