Gasum Ltd’s Baltic Sea Commitment 2022–2026

The Baltic Sea is one of the most heavily trafficked seas in the world. Discharging sewage, greywaters, and food waste into the sea accounts for a major share of the total nutrient load from maritime transport. The Baltic Sea Action Group’s (BSAG) Ship Waste Action seeks to work with other actors in the value chain to reduce this nutrient load.

Gasum is a Nordic energy company, which strategy is to promote development towards a carbon-neutral future in road and maritime transport, and in industry together with customers and their partners. Gasum offers cleaner energy and helps its customers to reduce their own carbon footprint and that of their customers.

Important sustainability themes at Gasum include climate change mitigation and promoting the circular economy. Using biodegradable waste in biogas production is an efficient way to help to mitigate climate change and promote circular economy as well as improve the availability of cleaner energy. To strengthen these goals, Gasum gives a Baltic Sea Commitment to BSAG for 2022–2026.

Gasum commits to receive ship-generated greywaters and biowaste for processing into biogas based on circular economy principles. Biogas is a fully renewable, low-emission fuel. When liquified, it can also be used in maritime transport. In addition to biogas, recycled nutrients are produced in the biogas process. Recycled nutrients can be used in agriculture and in industrial processes to replace synthetic and virgin nutrient products. Furthermore, Gasum commits to influence within its own industry and, as a stakeholder and partner, to strengthen the circular economy with regard to ship-generated wastes.

Gasum’s Baltic Sea Commitment focuses on BSAG’s Ship Waste Action and implementing the learnings and results of the initiative into Gasum’s own operations. Gasum contributes to the Ship Waste Action in the role of a processor for ship generated wastewaters and wastes, biogas producer and a fuel supplier for maritime transport.

Three ambitions in the commitment are:

1. Gasum promotes the circular economy by receiving ship-generated wastewaters and waste, which are suitable for biogas and recycled nutrient production.

• Gasum receives and processes separately agreed amounts of wastewater and biowaste / food waste from ports, which are selected together with BSAG and which are participating in the pilot phase or from other ports subject to separate agreement.

• Gasum receives sludges from wastewater treatment plants which process ship-generated wastewaters subject to separate agreement.

• The aim is to examine and determine the volume of wastewater discharged into the ports selected and its potential for biogas production.

2. Gasum supports Ship Waste Action’s success with its own actions and actively promotes opportunities for the circular economy.

• Gasum sets wastewater and biowaste treatment prices at an incentivizing level for ports joining the Ship Waste Action at least for the pilot period.

• Gasum develops its sludge-based fertilizers to meet the needs of regenerative agriculture and promotes the market for recycled nutrient products by assessing the carbon footprints of its own products.

• Gasum provides science-based information on the use of sludge-based fertilizers in agriculture. Information about regenerative agriculture can be provided for Gasum by, for example, BSAG.

• Gasum contributes to communicating Ship Waste Action together with BSAG.

Gasum implements learnings from the Ship Waste Action by developing its own operations to strengthen the circular economy with regard to ship-generated wastewaters and biowaste, and by engaging with its partners and stakeholders in discharging ship-generated wastes into port reception facilities.

Through this commitment, Gasum will contribute to the joint efforts in Ship Waste Action, which enables collaboration within the maritime transport industry, as well as each organization’s own development aimed at promoting the circular economy. Furthermore, Gasum agrees to communicate this collaboration in its own communication channels. The progress of the initiative will be monitored regularly in joint meetings.

The commitment lasts five years and progress of the commitment will be reviewed together with BSAG on a yearly basis.