Fire at Tampere waste treatment plant highlights challenges arising from both energy market and land use
The Safety Investigation Authority, Finland (SIAF) has completed its investigation into a fire that broke out at the Rusko waste treatment plant in Tampere on 5 November 2024. It was the third time within one week that a fire broke out at the same facility. The fire destroyed a storage hall and a large amount of energy waste and recycled fuel. The burning produced smoke harmful to health that spread to nearby residential areas. The fire extinguishing measures were extensive and lasted for 10 days, requiring a work input amounting to more than four person-years.
“Fires often break out at waste treatment plants. Once they spread, they are difficult to extinguish and cause significant harm. Although such fires are common, not enough has been done to prepare for them. Moreover, in rescue services, waste treatment plants are not identified as sites with unique fire risks,” explains Timo Naskali, Investigator in Charge.
Fires often originate from spontaneous combustion or foreign objects among the waste, such as batteries.
“Fires at waste treatment plants should be considered a general safety issue: Safety is a matter for everyone sorting waste at different stages of its life cycle, for citizens as well as for waste treatment plants. This is important so that potential sources of ignition are not mixed with the waste,” says Naskali, highlighting the fire hazard.
“Changes in the energy market, increasingly warm winter seasons, growth in renewable energy and increased imports of waste-based fuels have impacted the demand for recycled fuels and the management of waste flows. This in turn has made the operations of waste treatment plants difficult to predict,” says Timo Naskali, Investigator in Charge.
The unpredictability of the energy market is a long-lasting and complex matter, and the same also applies to the waste treatment and land use processes requiring a permit. Understanding the big picture is difficult and the risks associated with it are often overlooked. The environmental permit of the waste treatment plant in Rusko allowed the facility to increase the amount of waste while the planning and construction of the nearby residential areas progressed. Due to shortcomings in cooperation between the authorities and problems in the flow of information, different authorities have not adequately considered the impacts of matters falling within each other’s competence.
“In summary, the lack of overall coordination between the authorities has allowed the waste treatment operations to grow while residential construction has spread to nearby areas. In the end, it is the residents of the nearby areas that suffer from the harmful impacts,” concludes Naskali.
Risk management issues affect the entire sector. In the case of Rusko, the risks, such as excessive accumulation of waste, were known and safety management plans had been prepared. However, no procedures had been developed to manage them, or the procedures were not implemented as planned. The supervisory authority had issued a number of requests for information and calls for action to the facility. However, they did not lead to improvements, which is partly due to the unpredictability of the energy market.
The Safety Investigation Authority addresses its recommendations to the Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of the Interior and Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities. The recommendations concern preparedness for rapid changes in the operating environment of waste treatment, consideration of waste treatment plants as unique fire risk sites, and coordination of official activities, especially in land use planning with regard to waste treatment and housing.
Inquiries:
Timo Naskali, Investigator in Charge, tel. +358 2951 50740
Published 26.11.2025