The digital marketplace connects sellers and buyers of biobased side streams (e.g., manure, grass, crop residues, forest residues). The main target groups are agricultural and forestry companies and the food industry, as well as industry and the public sector using biobased raw materials. The aim of the CircularFinland (KiertoaSuomesta.fi) service is to create new business opportunities for all stakeholders as easily as possible.
MTK has created the first beta version of the website in 2019, and the development work continues in the context of TREASoURcE. Various workshops, online surveys, and interviews with different user groups, mainly farmers and the processing industry, have contributed to the development of the marketplace.
The CircularFinland service will help to develop regional nutrient and material cycles and thus contribute to circular bioeconomy. The digital marketplace will also help to reduce waste and emissions, keep natural resources in use for as long as possible and add value to materials. The site will support the creation of local, optimized symbioses linking agriculture, industry, public bodies, and consumers. At the same time, it will promote cooperation between rural and urban areas.
The marketplace is open nationally in Finland, but during the launching phase, the focus will be on the Pirkanmaa region and other parts of Southern Finland. Currently, the service requires registration with a business ID to be able to post a listing or to contact sellers or byuers. In the future, the site will be opened to consumers. TREASoURcE will explore replication possibilities of the service in other project countries, in particular Estonia and Norway.
Initially, the marketplace will focus on biobased side streams, but may later be extended to other circular economy activities. The aim of this development is that the site could be used in the future as a supporting tool for reporting, for example, for sustainability reports. Users could easily use the site to document material exchanges, to verify recycling.
You can visit the Finnish website here.
19.6.2023
Riina Kärki, Project Manager (MTK), riina.karki@mtk.fi
Nora Berglund, Project Specialist (MTK), nora.berglund@mtk.fi
Aki Laitinen, Digital Specialist (MTK), aki.laitinen@mtk.fi
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