Green Living in Europe
Comenius
Cooperation between Hamburg and Bergen
Waste
30.01.2014
by Jonas Gjesdal, Elida Knudsen and Jana Eder
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Directory
Introduction
Main part
Report about Hamburg
Report about Bergen
Evaluation
Conclusion
Additional information
List of references
Material
Feedback from Bergen
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1. Introduction
We are working with waste in Bergen and Hamburg. We are living in a world destroyed by CO2emissions and other greenhouse gasses. Producing new products is no longer a problem, and we are
generating more waste than ever. How are the two cities, Hamburg and Bergen, dealing with this?
What can Bergen learn from the greenest city in 2011, and can Hamburg learn anything from the
small city located in western Norway? During our trips through Hamburg and Bergen we got to know
different types of waste disposal. In Hamburg we learned about the refuse destructor, recycling and
how the Hafencity worked with waste. In Bergen we learned a lot about the tunnel system, Freetex
(alike a Second-Hand-Shop) and also about the refuse destructor.
2. Main Part
Recycling, reuse and distance heating are all important elements in environmental politic. Hamburg
was elected as the greenest city of 2011 in Europe, but to which extent are the city and its citizens
using these factors? What can a small city located on the west coast of Norway learn from the
megacity Hamburg? Everything can get better, so what can the greenest city of 2011 do to improve
their environmental situation? These questions are interesting to discuss because of the ongoing
global warming and because it is important that the different countries in the world help each other
to solve this world wide problem.
2.1 Report about Hamburg
Hamburg is a typical example of a city that has gone through, and is still in, a period of urbanization.
Most of the citizens is located around the city center were most of the people also work. With 1.8
million inhabitants living in the city, a lot of waste is produced. Almost every household in Hamburg
has their own sorting system, but in different sizes. Some households only sort biological waste and
paper, while others also sort metal, plastic and glass. The possibilities for recycling in Hamburg are
fantastic: There are as much as 13 facilities were waste is reformed to new objects. In addition to
these, Hamburg has four huge refuse destructors. One of them, the largest and most famous one, is
located in Stellingen, west from Hamburg. Here are both, normal waste and biological waste,
brought in large trucks to be then burned into ashes that can be used as building materials for streets
and other projects. The environmental situation at the refuse destructor was not very good in 1973.
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The different emissions were extremely high, and the pollution was not sustainable at all. This got
better for each year, and only 17 years later, all of the emissions were considerable improved.
The refuse destructor in Stellingen is huge
compared to the one in Bergen.
Garbage at the street in St.
Pauli.
Here are some good examples:
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Chlorine emissions were reduced from 100 mg/Nm3 to 10 mg/Nm3
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Dust emissions were reduced from 150 mg/Nm3 to 10 mg/Nm3
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Sulphur emissions were reduced from 1000 mg/Nm3 to only 50 mg/Nm3. Such large
constructions cost a lot of money, not just to build, but also to operate. The refuse
destructors in Hamburg actually have more capacity than there is waste in the city. If the
destructors run low on garbage, the city will lose a great amount of money. Therefore, they
import waste from other countries, especially Great Britain. This leads to another
environmental problem: Large trucks carrying waste the whole way from Great Britain is
causing high CO2 emissions which is not sustainable for our environment. The only good
argument the lecturer at the refuse destructor had to this, was, that the trucks would drive
anyways.
Some of the waste that is burned at the refuse destructors is also being used to warm up houses
by distance heating, but according to the lecturer, Hamburg has a far better potential than what
is used now.
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To understand the waste situation in Hamburg, it is a good idea to look at the different parts of the
city. St. Pauli and Hafencity are two pretty different places in the same city. While Hafencity is a
modern area with up-to-date houses and modern values, St. Pauli has a lot of older, dilapidated
houses. It is easy to spot out the differences in the two districts, not only at the architecture, but also
at the people who live there. It is obviously a huge difference in how much money the city has spent
at Hafencity in proportion to St. Pauli. This also comes to the surface when we look at the waste
situation. Modern values says that everything has to be “green” and a rich district like Hafencity
would off course follow these by having a functional waste system.
While there is a lot of garbage at the streets in St. Pauli, you would have difficulties finding as much
as a plastic bag at the clean streets in Hafencity. Bergen has a lot to improve, but plans are already
made to make the situation better. The city has a plan for building an underground waste system.
With this system, there will be less CO2 emissions by cars carrying waste.
The waste system will bring the waste to the refuse incinerator where it will be burned, and
hopefully used for distance heating. Distance heating is something Bergen also has to improve. It is
already used in a small scale, but the potential is much bigger. Like in Hamburg, Bergen is also
transporting trash by truck, but the other way around; Bergen is paying Sweden to burn dangerous
waste. This is also causing big CO2 emissions from large trucks, which is a problem for the
environment.
In Bergen, not as many households have sorting systems asin Hamburg. People’s thoughts about
sorting are different in the two cities. While in Hamburg most people want to help the environment
by sorting metal, glass, paper, bio and others, people in Bergen think less about the complications,
and throw it all in the same garbage. However, paper sorting is usual in Bergen, and a lot of
households also sorting biological waste. Both Hamburg and Bergen are recycling bottles in a system
where you get money back if you bring them back to the shop. This is a simple trick that is well
known all over the world: Treatment.
The city of Hamburg has come far in the process of being an environmental friendly city, but there is
a much larger potential, especially in the districts that are not as rich as Hafencity. Hamburg could
use more distance heating, and improve the situation in for instance St. Pauli by setting up new trash
cans. Bergen has a lot to learn from Hamburg, especially when it comes to recycling in general and
recycling stations. The people in both cities have to be more conscious about the whole
environmental situation. It is only this way we could make a change.
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Hafencity Architecture
2.2 Report about Bergen - Excursion 10.9.13
In this text we are going to write about our day working on “green living”, showing the Germans
Bergen and visit some important attractions the city has to offer when it comes to environment.
We started at BHG at 11.00, and went to visit “Amalie Skram”, the new school that this going to
replace BHG from August 2014. Magnus talked about the architecture and the way they are going to
heat the building, which will be done by passing hot water trough tubes. The water will circulate in
the walls and heat the school in an environmental friendly way. It is interesting to see how they do it
at the new school, since it is very large and could have caused a lot of damage if it did not use
environmental friendly energy sources. After that we went to the new student apartments at
Grønnevikssøren. Lars Otto told us about how these are environmental friendly built. The
apartments are using remote heating, and it will also be connected with the trash tunnel that is
planned to be built in 2015. It has no parking lots for cars, but 360 for bicycles, which hopefully will
make people choose bikes or Bybanen instead of cars. We saw the apartments from different angels,
before we moved on to the recycling station just a few blocks away.
Arild informed us that this is one of the stations in Bergen where trash is recycled, and that it is
owned by the company BIR. We then continued our trip and stopped at Damsgårdssundet. Hans
Jørgen told us about the new apartments which is built in a green model, and fits for elderly and
younger people. It is central - almost in the middle of the district Bergenhus - and has free room for
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gardens and boat space. We took a break before we traveled with Bybanen to Gulartinghuset.
Magnus stated that this was a building with very modern architecture, since it was built in 2011.
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Our last station was Fretex in Lars Hilles Street, where we looked around and saw how Frelsesarmeen
sold used stuff like furniture, books, clothes and DVDs and used the money for charity.
It has been a knowledgeable day, we have learned from each other and at the same time got to
know one another a little bit better.
2.3. Evaluation
After one year of Comenius „Green Living“, we can write the comparison on Bergen and Hamburg.
Measures in Hamburg
Recycling: In Hamburg, people are recycling paper, glass, metal, biological waste, plastic and normal
trash. The sorting is done in the household, which makes the whole process much easier. This helps
the world to not use all its raw materials. They also have 13 stations where the sorted trash is made
into new objects, so the possibilities are incredible.
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Refuse incinerators: They also have four enormous refuse incinerators, where the remaining trash is
burnt into dust, which is then used for the construction of buildings and roads. The environmental
situation at the refuse incinerator has improved a lot over the last 17 years, and for instance dust
emissions have gone from 150 mg/Nm3 to 10 mg/Nm3.
Measures in Bergen
The trash tunnel: The trash tunnel is a well formed plan which is going to be carried out next year
already. The trash tunnel is a system which has been installed already in cities around the world,
and it is an environmental revolution. The trash is sorted in different outdoor inlets.
These are connected to pipes, and the trash is driven to the recycling stations by a vacuum
powered by fans.
There is already a smaller model of this built at Nesttun, and this has shown us that it works. The
larger one will be built in the center of Bergen, and the plan is that nobody in the city center will
have to walk longer than 50metres to the outdoor inlets.
The blue area at the picture is where the tunnel is going to be built at first.
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Reuse:
Fretex is a store that sells clothes, furniture, books, CDs and much more that is already used. The
store is being operated by the Salvation Army, which is a Christian organization. At Fretex you can
buy cheap clothes, and this is a great opportunity for people who have money problems. Fretex has
also become a trend for younger people who like to be different and have their own style.
3. Conclusion
The two cities have a lot in common. The trash systems are quite similar: The only difference is the
size, which obviously is different in a megacity compared to a town with only 270 000 citizens.
However, both cities have some things to learn from each other. Bergen could sort and recycle much
more than they do today. Most households are not sorting to the same extent as the households in
Hamburg. Hamburg should also follow Bergen’s example and start planning to build a trash tunnel
system. In a city with 1.8 million people, it would be a great environmental improvement to build the
system, and a well spent investment.
4. Additional information
The trash tunnel system here at Nesttun is a smaller version of the one that is going to be built in the
city. It is useful because:
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It is more effective
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It is more quiet
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It is more environmental friendly
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It uses less energy
than large trucks that let out a lot of CO2 in the atmosphere. The waste is sent to the trash
incinerators in a modern tunnel system. The system is not driven by electricity or gas, but is ssucked
towards its destination by vacuum. The people who live in buildings that are connected to the tunnel
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system do not need to walk far with the trash, and the trash is sent directly to a trash incinerator or a
recycling station. This takes a lot less time than it takes for large trucks to drive to each house to pick
up trash. It is also quiet, as it takes place under ground.
This makes a better environment for hearing, smell and breath. The tunnel system is currently only
built here at Nesttun, but the politicians have a plan to also build it in the city center. Hopefully it will
spread over to the other districts as well.
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5. List of references
http://www.fretex.no/attforing/bergen
http://www.hamburg.de/abfall-entsorgung/
http://www.hamburg-magazin.de/service/umwelt/recyclingentsorgung/artikel/detail/recyclinghoefe-der-stadtreinigung-hamburg.html
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6. Material
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Example form the blog
Link to film trailer
http://greenbergen.blogspot.no/2012/10/green-bergen-teaser.html
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7. Feedback from Bergen
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A big thanks goes out to my working group. It was a great pleasure to work with you.
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