Sweden. City of Stockholm
| Date of agreement: | 02 Sep 2020 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Sweden |
| Customer: | City of Stockholm |
| Amount in SEK: | SEK 1,000 million |
| Amount in EUR: | EUR 97.23 million |
| Maturity: | 10 years |
| NACE sector / loan type: | Sewage and refuse disposal, sanitation and similar activities |
This loan contributes to climate change mitigation: 42%
This loan has a positive effect on maritime environments: 38%
Financing from NIB Environmental Bond proceeds
NEB-eligible share: 64.5%
NEB category: Blue Bond project and Resources and waste management systems
Amount disbursed: EUR 22.4 million and 41.6 million
This project has been financed with the proceeds of NEBs issued under the previous framework
Note: For loans in other currencies than EUR, the equivalent in EUR is based on the exchange rate effective for the disbursement. Read more about the NIB Environmental Bonds
Project
NIB is providing the loan to finance part of the City of Stockholm’s SEK 2.15 billion investment in its waste, water, and wastewater infrastructure.
Automated optical waste sorting
The City of Stockholm has set a target to collect and utilise 70% of all food waste from 2023 onwards, compared to 25% in 2018. However, the older or more crowded areas of Stockholm do not have sufficient space to sort household waste at source. The city will therefore invest in a centralised automated optical waste sorting facility to maximise the recycling of garbage into useful resources.
The plan is for households to start sorting their foodwaste into a coloured bag, which can then be disposed into the same garbage bin as other household waste.
The collected waste bags are transported to the waste sorting station at the neighbouring site of the existing Högdalen waste-to-energy plant. There, optical equipment will sort the waste bags according to their colours. Short-range infrared rays will analyse the surface of the plastic waste fractions before they are sent for recycling.
This will enable sorting the waste into five categories: food waste for biogas production; combustible household waste for energy production; and plastic, magnetic and non-magnetic materials for recycling and utilisation in the production of new products. These measures are the foundation for circularity in terms of household waste being processed into new products.
The capacity of the waste sorting station will be 150,000 tonnes of household waste per year, making it one of the largest of its kind globally. (42% of NIB loan amount.)
Drinking water
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 (m3) per day to 320,000 m3 by 2050.
The loan from NIB will finance the refurbishment of the building, UV aggregate, water intake, fast filters, slow filters, and chemical treatment, a new building for ultra-filters, as well as the installation of new interlocking apparatus and new coal filters. (20% of NIB loan amount.)
Storm water
As more houses and roads are being built, the areas for natural filtration and evaporation of rainwater are being reduced. In order to reduce flood damages, 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. (16% of NIB loan amount.)
Sewage collection
The city will connect new residential areas and summer cottages to its centralised sewage system, thus ending inefficient de-centralised treatment of sewage. The need for wastewater treatment capacity will due to population growth. The project will also reduce the amount of untreated wastewater discharges into the ecosystem through flooding. (23% of NIB loan amount.)
Stockholm is the most populous municipality and city in the Nordic–Baltic region. The city is one of the fastest-growing regions in Europe and benefits from a strong economy and a rapidly growing population. The city is a longstanding client of NIB, co-financing the Henriksdal wastewater and Slussen projects.
Fulfilment of NIB's mandate
Waste sorting
Productivity: The new waste sorting capacity will increase resource efficiency.
Environment: When waste replaces virgin raw materials, environmental benefits appear along the whole value chain. The project supports the transition to a circular economy model.
Drinking water
The upgrading of pumps and pipes will connect around 2,000 new and existing households to the network. Improving the existing drinking water infrastructure contributes to urban development, security and stability of operations.
Storm water
The project is expected to decrease the number of annual hours per year when the storm water system overflows to the sewage system, which occasionally also floods out untreated sewage to the environment. Additionally, the storm water dams included in the project are expected to increase the retention of primarily phosphorus into the Baltic Sea.
Sewage collection
Productivity: The upgrade and expansion of the network will add around 6,000 population equivalents to the centralised network.
Environment: Although more households will be connected to the centralised sewage system, the discharges of pollutants into the Baltic Sea is expected to decrease.
Sustainability summary
Waste sorting
The unloading, sorting and reloading of trucks will take place inside a new building equipped with sufficient odour mitigation measures such as air locks and odour mitigation measures in the ventilation system.
Drinking water
No environmental concerns identified.
Storm water
Most of the subprojects under the storm water collection and treatment infrastructure investment are designed to manage a worst-case precipitation of 100 years.
Sewage collection
The main environmental issues related to the water infrastructure are discharges of pollutants into the Baltic Sea.
