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The SEWPER (see also The SEWPER Project Homepage) project is a waste disposal project funded by the Northern Periphery programme under article 10 of the EU, project partners, and national ministries. The project owner and leader partner is the Haukipudas municipality and other partners are the University of Highlands and Islands (UHI) from Scotland, the Pajala municipality from Sweden and the municipality of Vefsn from Norway. The project will start at the beginning of the year 2000 and continues until April 2001.

The objective of the project is to create an alternative model for the handling of community waste for sparsely populated areas in the Northern periphery. The goal is to find a waste disposal system suitable for climate, geographical and soil conditions in the participating countries, with which it is possible to handle the waste from sparsely populated areas in an ecological and economic manner with minimum transportation costs. Simultaneously, the project studies social influences of alternative waste handling on, among others, municipal area planning, living comfort and waste sorting in various cultures. In Finland, the local field research target is a village called Jokikylä that is situated in the municipality of Haukipudas, along the Kiiminkijoki river which is a preserved river under the Aqua 2000 programme.

The research will be carried out in three working groups, each handling a special area of the project and each having a representative from every participating country. The working groups are: solid waste, liquid wastewater and social working group.

LIQUID (Grey wastewater)

  The main objective of the project is to develop an economically serviceable handling method for grey wastewater. At the moment in the target areas, wastewater is absorbed directly into the soil, and thus also into ground water. Since the prevailing soil conditions are mainly hard, moraine or rocky areas, the soil cannot absorb grey wastewater adequately well. Under the circumstances the absorption waters rise to the ground level and thus also cause a health risk.

  As a result of the project we aim at achieving a model for handling grey wastewater, in order to realise a pilot project. This requires technical facts, such as micro-biological, chemical and B.O.D. loads, to be taken into consideration. With the help of the model it is possible to reduce health risks in the area, and to prevent the contamination of ground water. In co-operation with the other working groups of the project, we aim to find a grey wastewater handling technique which is suited for the handling process of solid waste and which will best contribute to the employment rate of the areas.

  Chairman of the working group: Ms Rosemary Thompson, University of Highlands and Islands.

E-mail: rosemary.thompson@groupwise.uhi.ac.uk

  SOLID (Solid waste)

  Currently solid waste from, for example, the Jokikylä area is transported to the main dumping-ground at Rusko, in Oulu. The primary objective of the project is to reduce the amount of waste to be transported by improving waste handling locally. Secondly, the model is used to develop a process which mayl create employment at a local level and which will make the utilisation of transport more efficient and thus increase the economy of the process. From the households to be studied, the following information will be gathered: quantity – an average figure for a typical cross-section of the community studied, quality – the overall types of waste produced, composition – a more detailed examination of the chemical nature of the waste, frequency of handling – collection rate, logistics – transportation distances and current total disposal costs, recyclability – economics of recycling; including influence on employment, as well as composting – behaviour of compostable material during the different seasons.

Chairman of the working group: Ms Terttu Sipilä, Oulu Polytechnic.

E-mail: terttu.sipila@oamk.fi

SOCIAL (Social matters)

  In Finland, as also elsewhere in the Northern Periphery, depopulation of sparsely populated areas is a serious problem. In Finland this is aggravated by the fact that due to the present waste disposal systems, the size of house plot must be at least 5,000 m². One of the objectives of this project is to ascertain whether or not the size of plots may be reduced, making communities more dense and area planning more economic.  Research objectives are also to find out how the attitudes and action of the inhabitants in the project areas changes during the project. Furthermore, the project aims at outlining the effects, which a new waste disposal system would bring to the area.

  Chairman of the working group: Mr Timo Järvikoski, University of Oulu, Faculty of Education.

 E-mail: tjarviko@ktk.oulu.fi

Project Management

A project management group, a SEM group (Steering, Evaluation and Monitoring) has been founded for the management of the project. Its members are the municipality of Haukipudas, represented by Mr. Esa Kynkäänniemi; project managing company Oy Culmentor Ltd., represented by the project manager and the project assistant, as well as the chairmen of the working groups.

The task of the SEM group is to steer the project’s progress and to ensure the progress and adoptation of the activities of the different working groups. In addition, the SEM group offers an excellent forum for discussion for the chairmen of the working groups.

Chairman of the SEM group: Mr James Nimmo, Oy Culmentor Ltd.

E-mail: james.nimmo@culmentor.com

Participants

  ¨       The municipality of Haukipudas: www.haukipudas.fi

The municipality of Haukipudas is located in the province of Oulu, on the estuary of the Kiiminkijoki river, 20 km to the north of Oulu. In the south, the municipality borders up on the City of Oulu, in the east to the municipalities of Kiiminki and Ylikiiminki, in the north to the municipalities of Ii and Yli-Ii, and in the west to the Gulf of Bothnia.

¨       The University of Highlands and Islands: www.uhi.ac.uk

The University of Highlands and Islands is a collegial university in Scotland. The university has a central role in the enhancement of educational, economic, social and cultural development in the area.

¨       The municipality of Pajala: www.pajala.se

The municipality of Pajala is located in Northern Sweden, in the valley of the Tornio river, about 100 km north of the Arctic Circle and 25 km from the closest frontier transit point to Finland. The multicultural identity of Pajala has been formed of the Finnish, Same and Swedish cultural traditions. Economic life in Pajala is dominated by several small enterprises. Especially computer and electronic industries have in the recent years developed the municipality to be the Silicon Valley of Norrland.

¨       The municipality of Vefsn: www.vefsn.kommune.no

The municipality of Vefsn is located in the heart of Helgeland, in the middle of Norway. Of the entire population of 13,600 about 10,000 inhabitants live in the city of Mosjøen. Vefsn is a large municipality with a lot of mountains, fjelds, caves and rivers.

¨       Oy Culmentor Ltd.: www.culmentor.com

Oy Culmentor Ltd. is an expert enterprise offering its customers project development and management services mainly for projects relating to the environment and construction.