Market Overview
The four main Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden – are advanced, high-income, and highly-connected countries that have a long history of working together. With an aggregate Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$ 1.6 trillion and combined population of 27 million people, the Nordics are of genuine interest to a number of United States (U.S.) companies with leading and advanced products, technologies, and services.
The Nordic countries invest heavily in several segments of the circular economy, including health, infrastructure, green transition, and clean technologies. The Nordic countries have established a partnership program called NCP (Nordic Circular Partner), which is a ten-year collaboration program designed for a strategic, systematic, and efficient circular market transition and sustainable development in the countries. The Circular economy possesses great opportunities that can work as a competitive advantage for the Nordic countries and organizations operating in the region by reducing the environmental footprint, especially in industries such as construction, food, and textiles. The Nordic countries are among the front-runners in terms of bringing about change and complying with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Nordic countries have high targets for emission reductions, and innovations in low-emission and renewable technologies. Denmark is committed to highlighting opportunities for businesses and investments in delivering the SDGs through public-private partnerships (PPPs). Norway has the world’s highest penetration per capita of electric vehicles. Finland and Sweden have some of the most ambitious carbon emissions targets in the world, driven both by government and industry.
Water and Wastewater
The Nordic countries follow developments in safeguarding water through both the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) framework for safe drinking water and European Legislation. All Nordic countries have signed the Protocol on Water and Health and have established national and local targets for the quality of drinking water, the quality of discharges, and the performance of wastewater treatment. The European Union (EU) Drinking Water Directive (DWD) entered into force in 2021. It highlights the objective of UN SDG 6 to ensure safe water for everyone and improve the transparency of water quality.
The Nordic countries have abundant water resources, and the water is generally of very good quality and safe to use. However, the quality of raw water varies as does the level of treatment. All households in the Nordic countries have universal household pipe water. The large- and medium-size water supplies in the Nordic countries are mainly municipal-owned, whereas the smaller systems are user-owned, either private or cooperate, with a non-profit approach. There are up to 12,500 regulated water supplies in the Nordic countries count, of which 75% are small or very small water supplies, serving less than 500 people. About 10% (2.6 million) of the citizens of the Nordic countries rely on drinking water from unregulated or insufficiently regulated water supplies.
The Nordic countries have far-reaching standards for effluent in treated wastewater, which have led to the development of a wide range of innovative solutions that are implemented around the world.
Danish wastewater plants are on their way of becoming energy-neutral, and some of the country’s largest water companies collaborate with competitors to find solutions to the major water challenges common to the rest of the world.
In Finland, the treatment of wastewater that originates from population centers and industry achieves the highest European standard. The most common method of purification is biological-chemical simultaneous precipitation, which is a combination of two wastewater treatment processes. The Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority HSY is building the most powerful wastewater treatment plant in the Nordic countries. The goal of the plant, which will be completed in 2022, is to remove over 98% of the phosphorus and over 90% of the nitrogen from the wastewater while also improving wastewater treatment reliability and capacity.
In Norway, the water and wastewater infrastructure must be municipality-owned and cannot be privatized in order to ensure the quality, safety, and price of these services in a long-term perspective. Norway has almost 2,700 municipal wastewater treatment plants which take care of the wastewater from 84% of the Norwegian population. The Norwegian municipalities have a total of 43,000 kilometers (km) water mains; 35,900 km sewers; and 15,700 km storm water drains. There are also 180,000 km of privately-owned house connections. The capital, Oslo, is currently developing a second water supply through a 10-mile tunnel, amounting to nearly $2 billion with all infrastructure included. The project is expected to be completed in 2024.
In Sweden, the water supply and sanitation are the tasks of the local government or municipality, while the Ministry of Environment is responsible for water protection, and the Ministry of Agriculture supervises drinking water quality. About 95% of the wastewater in urban areas undergoes mechanical, biological, and chemical treatment. The treatment plants produce 230,000 tons of sludge in dry solids every year, of which about 6,000 tons contain phosphorus and could be used as fertilizer. Sweden is efficient in converting some of sludge into biogas through anaerobic digestion.
Waste Management
Northern Europe produces about 150 million tons of burnable trash each year with the incineration capacity to support 700 million tons. Therefore, the Nordic countries experience a serious trash shortage, and the municipalities must import waste from other European countries.
The Danish waste incineration plants produce approximately 20% of all district heating and 5% of the electricity consumption, and the plants’ total energy outcome is close to 95%. Currently, the Danish incineration plants are mostly owned by municipal or intermunicipal companies. However, it is likely that the plants will become company ownership structures, separate from other public affairs and acting on commercial waste markets, in the future to ensure more competition and efficiency in the treatment of combustible municipal solid waste in Denmark.
The Finnish Waste Act (646/2011) and EU waste legislation are based on the hierarchy of waste targets, which means that the waste should be treated in the order of priority. Top priority is given to the prevention of the waste generation, followed by reuse and repair in order to extend use for as long as possible, and least priority is given to recycling waste into raw materials for new products. The collection and recycling of bio-waste, paper, glass, metal, and other packaging are comprehensive and efficient. Up to 95% of households’ unrecyclable mixed waste is converted into electricity and heat production. Incinerator plants produce 3 terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy, which accounts for 8% of Finland’s district heat production. Similarly, the incinerator plants produce 1.2% of the country’s total electricity production. Municipalities are responsible for household waste management as well as for providing municipal waste from public service activities, social and health services, and education activities.
Since a large part of Norwegian waste is carried to Sweden, where it is cheaper to offload the cargo, Norway is struggling to get enough waste to run its incinerator plants. Since a ban on landfills in 2009, Norway has invested in modern waste-to-energy incineration plants with the enormous capacity to burn 300 tons of waste every day and create heat energy, biogas, and electricity, which is fed to private houses, private businesses, and public institutions. Moreover, when approved, the waste-to-energy plant in Oslo could be the world’s first such plant, with a full-scale carbon capture site capable of capturing 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year. The climate gas will be deposited under the seabed in the North Sea. Since about 50% of the waste incinerated at the plant is of biological origin, the plant becomes carbon-negative, also known as bio-CCS, or BECCS, which is something that the European Commission, the UN, and the International Energy Agency (IEA) all emphasize as important for achieving the world’s climate target goals.
More than 99% of the Swedish household waste is recycled. This is due to stringent municipal legislation and national campaigns driven by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), municipalities, industries, and individual cities. The municipalities have placed recycling stations close to residential areas to increase the appropriate disposal of household waste. Over 50% of household waste is burnt to produce energy at combined heat and power (CHP) and district heating (DH) plants. Sweden also imports approximately 3 tons annually, primarily from Norway, the United Kingdom (UK), and Ireland. Together, the domestic and imported waste produce almost 20 TWh of energy. The mining industry accounts for 83% of total industrial waste, with most of it being non-hazardous. About 5% originates from construction sites, and the rest comes from other industries and services. The waste from industries is the main reason for Sweden’s ranking as eleventh in the EU, which considers total amounts of waste.
Air Pollution Control
Air pollution problems are concerning for the Nordic countries. Eutrophication, acid deposition, and the dispersion and effects of toxic substances are environmental problems have been known as real threats to the Nordic environment for a long time. Joint responsibility for common marine resources has made the environment to an area of particular interest for the Nordic countries and for Nordic collaboration.
In Denmark, air pollution comes mainly from wood-burning stoves and boilers, vehicles, ships, enterprises, and large plants that produce energy for everyone. The most recent data indicates that the country’s annual mean concentration of particulate matter (PM2.5) is 10 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3), which aligns with the recommended maximum of 10 µg/m3.
According to data published by the WHO, Finland’s air quality is the best in the world. The average concentration of fine particles (PM2.5) in Finland is 6 µg/m3, which is the lowest country-specific concentration level. Although the air quality is good in Finland, and the local impacts of air pollutants are minor, the pollution levels in cities may rise during difficult weather conditions in the winter and summer. Pollution levels may rise to the same level as those in Central European cities of similar size. Thanks to air pollution control, air quality has improved significantly in Finland in the recent decades, but air emissions are still generated by energy production, industry, and traffic, especially in urban areas.
In Norway, the air pollution levels are similar to those in the other Nordic countries and have remained relatively stable over the last decade. Norway is well below the EU limit value for PM2.5, at around 10-15 µg/m3. The air quality in Norway can be affected by vehicle emissions, food processing, and the petroleum gas and mining industries. Seasonal variations also exist, with higher levels of air pollution in the winter due to heating and exhaust emissions.
Sweden has one of the lowest concentrations of air pollution in urban areas in the EU. Furthermore, the country has successfully decreased air pollution over the last decade, while both the industry and transportation sectors have grown. The emission control policy for transportation and energy-intensive industries is very tight, and the polluter pays principle applies in form of taxes. However, despite the policy, some municipalities, including the capital city area, still do not meet the EU air quality standard for large particular matter (PM10), set to 50 µg/m3.
Soil Remediation
In Denmark, there is a ban on landfills for waste that is suitable for incineration or recycling, which means that less than 5% of all waste is landfilled. In areas that are already contaminated, soil remediation measures are implemented to remove pollution.
In Finland, there are no specific soil protection laws. However, relevant controls are included in the legislation covering related activities, such as construction, earth extraction, farming, and forestry. In addition, land-use planning, EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment), environmental permit procedures, and official supervision and monitoring are used to protect soil and their sustainable use. Legislation on pollution, nature conservation, and landscape conservation also helps protect soil.
Compared to many other countries, Norway has limited areas of arable land. Safeguarding food production requires strong soil protection measures, combined with better utilization of available farmland. The Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA) reports that Norway has more than 5,000 locations of contaminated soil, including polluted sea beds, and at least 10% of these require immediate action.
One of the sixteen Swedish environmental goals is a toxic-free environment, including land, wetland, and facilities that can have detrimental effects on soil, water, or biota. There are over 1,000 high-risk areas that are in need of immediate sanitation, and about 800,000 areas are currently being investigated for possible contamination. The main causes for contamination in these areas are the forest, pulp, paper, and chemical industries and glassworks. While the most common methods for remediation include relocation and landfilling, Swedish authorities are constantly looking for more effective and sustainable methods for both remediation and risk assessment. There are several PPPs looking into methods such as sequential remediation, reductive dichlorination, and ecotoxicological assessment.
Market Entry
The Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden are closely linked, both culturally and economically. These economies are all advanced, high-income, and highly-connected. While each country has its own unique market and characteristics, there are certain synergies that tie these highly innovative marketplaces together. The Nordic region presents excellent opportunities for U.S. companies with sophisticated high-quality products, technologies, and services. In addition, many Nordic firms, from major established multinationals to early-stage startups, are eager to partner with U.S. firms and engineer Made in USA innovations into their solutions.
The U.S. Commercial Service team in northern Europe works regionally and collaboratively to offer cross-border, multi-market advice and solutions for U.S. companies looking to identify local business partners or other market entry options throughout the Nordic-Baltic region and the rest of Europe. 
