Updated 6 September 2000

Environmental Protection Expenditure by Finnish Industry in 1998

In 1998, Finnish industries spent a total of about FIM 3.2 billion on environmental protection. The share of environmental protection investment was just over FIM 1.1 billion, which is 20 per cent less than in 1997. Environmental investment accounted for 4.8 per cent of total industrial investment in 1998. This is clearly less than in 1997, when the proportions of environmental protection was 7.3 per cent.

Forest industry accounted for 50 per cent of the total investment in environmental protection

During the year under review, spending on environmental protection was the highest in the forest industry, which accounted for 50 per cent, or FIM 522 million of the total investment in environmental protection. FIM 201 million of this was aimed at the promotion of air pollution control. Metal industry came second with FIM 285 million, followed by other industry (including the manufacture of food and textiles and mining and quarrying) with FIM 129 million.

Within the forest industry sector, the pulp and paper industry accounted for 93 per cent of the investments in environmental protection. In metal industry, 43 per cent of the investments were made in the manufacture of metal products, and in other industry, the manufacture of food products represented 69 per cent of the investments.

In 1998, 40 per cent of industrial investments in environmental protection were aimed at water conservation. Investments in air pollution control accounted for 36 per cent, waste management (including protection of soil and groundwater) for 22 per cent and other environmental protection for two per cent of all environmental investments. The share of water conservation went up, air pollution control down. The share of waste management kept on going up steadily.

Environmental investment accounted for 4.8 per cent of total industrial investment in 1998. This is clearly less than in the previous years, when the proportions of environmental protection has ranged between 5 and 10 per cent. The proportion of environmental protection was the highest in the manufacture of oil and coal products, where some 15 per cent of all investments went towards environmental protection. In separate generation of district heat and the manufacture of metal products, environmental investment accounted also for more than 10 per cent of total investment.

End-of-pipe and process-integrated investments

Environmental investment is here defined as consisting of both end-of-pipe and process-integrated investments. An end-of-pipe investment is one that does not significantly alter the production process but may call for minor modifications in the process technology. Most end-of-pipe investments are made in cleanup equipment - such as electrostatic precipitators or waste water treatment plants - or in various structures preventing emissions to the environment, such as protective embankments or basins. Equipment and plants required for the collection, transport and treatment of waste are also end-of-pipe investments. Process-integrated investment in environmental protection may improve the process itself by preventing emissions and waste production. In practice, it usually means upgrading the actual production technology. Typical process-integrated measures are closed water circulations and low-NOx burners.

Total end-of-pipe environmental investment by industry amounted to FIM 680 million, or 61 per cent of all environmental investment in 1998. FIM 435 million, or 39 per cent of the total, was spent on process-integrated environmental investment. With the exceptions of 1998 and 1992 the relative proportions of process-integrated and end-of-pipe investments have varied only little, which means that the relative proportions of end-of-pipe and process-integrated investments have been almost equal.

Environmental operating expenditure was up by 7 per cent

Besides investments, Finnish industry spent slightly less than FIM 2.1 billion in operating expenditure related to environmental protection in 1998. Total operating expenditure was up by 7 per cent on the figure for the previous year.

Growth was strongest in metal industry, up by 39 per cent on the year before, which was due to higher expenditure in almost all categories. In other industrial sectors, operating expenditure went either way, up or down, by 11 per cent at the most.

Running and maintenance expenditure accounted for 87 per cent of the total operating expenditure, or around FIM 1.8 billion. The biggest single category was water conservation, representing almost one half of the total running and maintenance expenditure. Waste management accounted for less than one third and air pollution control for less than one fifth. Other operating expenditure include e.g. environment-related administrative expenditure which has seen an increase in the previous years, which is explained by the new environmental management schemes. In addition to environment-related administrative expenditure, other operating expenditure comprises R&D spending to reduce environmental hazards caused by industrial plants, the expenses of monitoring the environment and various compensations. In 1998, Finnish industry spent a total of about FIM 280 million on these expenses, which is a fairly small category of expenses and some of them only occur sporadically.

These statistics on environmental protection expenditure by Finnish industry are based on questionnaires sent to approximately 2,600 establishments.

Tables and figures

• Statistical methods have changed. Therefore the figures by industry or by industrial sector for 1998 cannot be compared with earlier data.
• Waste management includes also soil and groundwater protection.

• Environmental protection investment
• Environmental protection investment by industrial sector in 1992-1998
• Environmental protection investment, total fixed investment and environmental investment as a proportion of total fixed investment by industry in 1998
• Environmental protection investment by environmental domain in 1992-1998
• End-of-pipe and process-integrated environmental protection investment in 1992-1998
• Environmental operating expenditure
• Environmental operating expenditure by industrial sector in 1992-1998
• Environmental operating expenditure by industrial sector in 1998
• Environmental operating expenditure by industry in 1998
• Environmental running and maintenance expenditure
• Environmental running and maintenance expenditure by industrial sector in 1992-1998
• Environmental running and maintenance expenditure by environmental domain in 1992-1998
• Environmental running and maintenance expenditure by industry and by environmental domain in 1998
• Other environmental operating expenditure
• Other environmental operating expenditure by industrial sector in 1992-1998
• Other environmental operating expenditure by item in 1992-1998

Source: Environmental protection expenditure by Finnish industry 1998