The importance of local presence is becoming increasingly apparent in Kemira’s Water segment since licensing, monitoring and many other government practices vary from one country to another.
“We have a person in each country who has access, when necessary, discussing environmental legislation with the responsible officials. The sooner we know the laws and regulations that are coming into force concerning the use of water, the faster we come up with ready solutions to face the new challenges,” says Aija Jantunen, who is in charge of Kemira’s Water segment’s operations in Finland and the Baltic countries.
There are many countries in the world that have no waste water treatment.
They could start to solve the problem by combining Kemira’s cost-efficient chemical precipitation with mechanical waste water purification. And there is a demand for modern solutions, such as in the new Member States of the European Union endeavoring to meet the requirements stipulated in EU directives given during their transition period.
“The EU demands the removal of phosphorus and nitrogen fromwastewater. For instance, we have supplied Riga, the capital of Latvia, with the precipitation chemicals to remove phosphorus from wastewater.”
Jantunen says that Kemira reaps the benefits from Finnish officials being actively involved in drafting EU environmental directives. “We get first-hand knowledge from them on what to expect. Finland strictly interprets directives and it quickly introduces them into legislation, and this is the driving force behind Kemira’s efficient development work. We can take the concepts we are developing in our research units to locations anywhere in the world and apply them to local conditions.”
Original article published in Kemira’s stakeholder magazine Just Add 2/2009