The newspapers have contacted some of the construction companies involved. None have systematically reused building materials from old Kiruna. There are a few exceptions, such as stone material used in a new park or toilet seats sold to the public.
Kiruna is a special case, and the municipality could have done a lot more, Erik Stenberg, recycling expert and lecturer at the School of Architecture at KTH, tells the newspapers.
The developer, the mining company LKAB, is legally obliged to conduct a recycling inventory prior to demolition. There is no written inventory, the review shows. According to Kristoffer Johansson, head of building permits in Kiruna, the subject is usually discussed verbally in consultation with LKAB.
LKAB writes to the newspapers that the laws for recycling and waste are being followed. Ahead of the second stage of urban transformation, LKAB writes that statistics are being kept on recycled materials.
Mats Niemi (S), chairman of the environment and building committee in Kiruna, points out that recycling is a cost issue.
It is already significantly more expensive to build in Kiruna, partly due to a lack of competition. For us, the most important thing is to have time to build all the new housing so that people have somewhere to move to, he tells Byggindustrin.
