Minister of the Environment Mati Raidma awarded the most environmentally friendly companies of Estonia today. The overall winner was Estonian Cell AS, which uses wastewater to manufacture biogas.
“All companies who participated in this contest should be praised for the fact that they have found a number of innovative, smart and sustainable solutions in their manufacturing process, helping to reduce the environmental burden. For example, this year’s overall winner Estonian Cell AS makes use of the wastewater arising from the main production in order to manufacture biogas, which in turn is used in the factory instead of natural gas. Only such solutions are sustainable and reasonable in terms of limited resources,” Minister of the Environment Mati Raidma commented.
Overall winner and winner in the sub-category of the environmentally friendly manufacturing process Estonian Cell AS became the biggest manufacturer of biogas in Estonia thanks to its innovative solution. As the overall winner of the contest, the company can additionally invest 35,000 euros in its green development with the support of the Environmental Investment Centre.
In the category of environmentally friendly production process, the promoter of organic farming, Loodusvägi OÜ, was recognised and a special prize was given to Sümbio OÜ, which connects business and biodiversity by growing blueberries and cranberries on abandoned milled peatlands.
In the environmental management category, the winner was Logistika Pluss OÜ, which constructed a new energy conserving Nurmevälja logistics centre near Iru power plant. For example, the energy efficient heating system of the centre enables to choose the least expensive fuel, additional energy is also provided by the solar panels and 95 percent of the lighting of buildings functions by means of motion detectors.
The winner of the sub-category of environmentally friendly product or service was Cityntel OÜ, which has introduced smart street lighting of new generation to the market. LED lighting that functions on the basis of radio communication contributes to saving up to 80 percent of electricity compared to current street lighting solutions. For example, these lights can be dimmed during the night time, which saves electricity, as well as helps to reduce light pollution.