4
separate waste fractions
Rest/Paper/Plastics/
Cardboard
The brief
A demonstration of Envac’s innovative waste collection solution showcased the perfect way for Bergen to preserve its historical integrity. Reducing the risk of waste related fires by installing a closed underground waste collection system contributes to Bergen’s goal to become an international sustainability exemplar. This decision was furthermore reinforced by BIR Nett AS’s declaration that Envac’s proposal was ‘outstanding’.
Following a briefing from BIR Nett AS, which covered how waste collection needed to play a role in shaping the urban environment as opposed to simply moving waste from A to B, Envac set out to design a system that could handle 50 tons of waste per week using airflow alone and without requiring on-street presence from waste collection operatives.
1,200
waste inlets
conveniently located across the city for easy disposal
(Dec ’20 – 427)
7,500
meters pipe network
for underground transport of waste from buildings to collection terminal
30,000
connected
households plus businesses
when completed
(Dec ’20 – 8,641+312 businesses)
Immediate effects of the Envac system
From an interview with the City of Bergen, Kolbjorn Akervold, Special advisor
The project
Working closely with BIR Nett AS, Envac was able to install the first phase of the system in 2007 and is currently extending the system in 2022. On the development’s full completion, Envac’s pneumatic waste collection system will automatically collect the waste of up to 30,000 apartments multiple times each day.
The City of Bergen has already won the National Energy Globe Award 2018 for its decision to install Envac, and more recently, the International Project of the Year Award at the World Congress on Municipal Engineering in Kansas, USA.
The three-phase development, of which Envac has been involved in the only two carried out to date, is set to continue over the coming years. Another collection station was built in 2021 and in operation 2022.
The result
By using Envac, the City of Bergen has:
• Enabled the city to protect and maintain a key part of its cultural legacy and stop further wear and tear of its historical roads caused by waste collection trucks that are too big to effectively move around Bergen’s old and narrow streets
• Eliminated the prospect of waste-related fires and burning bins, both of which would be disastrous for Bergen’s timber buildings, by installing a closed system where fire – and the risk of fire spreading – is no longer possible
Impacts
• Lowered its insurance premiums as a direct result of installing a closed waste collection system that inhibits waste related fires
• Future-proofed its infrastructure by installing a system that will remain operational for decades to come and reinforces Norway’s commitment to the environment
• Become the first city to make Envac’s cardboard shredding inlets available to the public by locating them in public areas
