View of Bergen city from Mount Floyen

CitiesEurope

Bergen

Proud of its historical city center, with narrow streets and wooden buildings, Bergen has taken steps to safeguard its cultural heritage from fire. By opting for pipe-based waste collection instead of traditional bin-based collection, Bergen has become a global trailblazer.

Location
Bergen, Norway
Client
BIR Nett AS
Segment
Cities
Launch
2015

The brief

A demonstration of Envac’s innovative solution nearly two decades ago proved to be perfect for Bergen, which is keen to preserve its historical integrity. Reducing fire risk by installing a sealed waste system also helps Bergen become an international example of sustainability.

After a presentation for BIR, which showed how waste collection would play a key role in shaping the urban environment rather than merely moving waste from point A to point B, Envac designed a system capable of handling 50 tonnes of waste per week using air, without the need for collection staff or refuse trucks on the streets.

Join Washington Post’s Nicolás Rivero on a visit to Bergen for an insight into their ongoing ambitious development of the waste system.

4

separate waste fractions

Rest/Paper/Plastics/
Cardboard

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, 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 protection and preservation of a vital part of its cultural heritage by stopping further wear and tear on its historic streets, caused by waste trucks that are too large to navigate Bergen’s old and narrow roads effectively.
  • Eliminated the risk of waste-related fires and burning rubbish – both of which would be catastrophic for Bergen’s timber buildings – by installing a sealed system where fire and the risk of fire spreading are no longer possible.
  • Reduced insurance premiums as a direct result of implementing a closed waste collection system that prevents waste-related fires.
  • Future-proofed its infrastructure by installing a system that will remain operational for decades and reinforces Norway’s commitment to the environment.
  • Become the first city to make Envac’s cardboard shredder inlets available to the public by placing them in public spaces.

Nygardstangen – Bergen’s second waste collection station

In the media

Related videos

Smart City

Bergen – Using Envac’s waste inlets

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Bergen – The Result

What are the sustainable benefits with changing methods for collecting waste, from the traditional to Envac? We talked to The City of Bergen.

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Bergen – The next waste collection station – Nygardstangen

Bergen is building it’s second waste collection station, including a state of the art show room for the waste collection and four office floors for the cleansing department BIR in the same building. The building has a green focus, with plants, behives on the roof, relax terrace for the staff and of course, Envac’s waste inlets around the entrance, to be able to show off the system in its real street environment.

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