Ávarp umhverfis- og auðlindaráðherra á Nordic Biogas Conference 2014

I would like to welcome you all to the Nordic Biogas Conference. Here we have an opportunity to exchange experiences and knowledge within the biogas area with special attention on green innovation for the future. 

When looking into the future it is important to learn from the past. Since the 1970´s Iceland has made considerable progress in waste management. The main waste treatment option in the 1970´s was open-pit burning, resulting in many small open dumps around the country. In the 1990´s the obvious disadvantage of widely spread uncontrolled open-pit burning had been recognized. In 2000 open-pit burning had gradually been phased out as not being acceptable any longer. Instead, landfill became the most general way of final waste treatment, but also few (small) incineration plants were built. The next big step was increased emphasis on recycling. 

Another trend we can derive from the past is the shift from waste management being almost exclusively carried out by individual municipalities to becoming a blooming business activity. 

We have come very far from open pits where waste was something to get rid of into the future to aiming at zero waste, a future where waste is a valuable commodity to use in the best possible way, a future that will build on green innovation for job creation. 

Recycling and reuse of materials is one of the biggest environmental challenges of the future. It is important to always take into account the life cycle of products. We also need to make better use of financial incentives to change the behavior of companies and the public. We need to make sure that our children will not look at waste as “waste” but as material that is important to use and reuse. 

I think it is important for all the Nordic countries and especially the sparsely populated countries in the north to have a clear vision in the waste management field, a vision that bears in mind that solutions that are perfect for big cities are probably not applicable in a sparsely populated area.  We therefore need to put emphasis on innovation in the waste field and encourage small communities to share best practices between themselves. I am confident that this conference can give both small and larger municipalities inspiration on possible solutions for the future. 

The Nordic bioeconomy initiative, NordBio, is a project initiated as part of the Icelandic chairmanship of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2014. I would like to take the opportunity to promote the project here since I believe it has clear connection to this conference.  The aim of the project is to promote a more sustainable utilization of natural resources and encourage less waste of resources.

The focus will be on projects that add economic, environmental and educational value. The Nordic countries have good prerequisites for clearing the path for a more biobased economy and also have a very holistic approach to societal change. 

This project falls mainly within three categories: Product development, sustainable food production and increased production of biomass and therefore biogas. It is well in line with both Nordic and European priorities in terms of green growth and sustainable development and reflects the overall priorities of the Nordic Bioeconomy Initiative. One of the aims is to increase biomass production for example; forestry, biomass for biotechnology products, biofuel, biomass for food production, including aquaculture.

Iceland has under its chairmanship put emphasis on the bioeconomy and it is my believe that biogas will be an important part of the energy mix of the Nordic countries in the future. I believe it is important to use landfill gas and other biogas as byproduct but it is also important to look for new ways to make better use of our bioeconomy in the interest of green growth and sustainable development.  

 
I wish you all a very fruitful next three days.