MariMatic strengthens its position in the international waste market by setting its sights on The Line urban project in Saudi Arabia. The company's advanced waste infrastructure solutions contribute to efficient and environmentally friendly waste collection.

MariMatic International Oy's CEO Sami Kääpä (left) and Product Development Manager Arttu Piironen present the operations of MariMatic's MetroTaifu Technology and Demo Centre in Järvenpää, Finland. The facilities include a robotic hand for sorting waste and the Elmo® retail data system, which helps retailers identify customer flows in the store, what products customers are interested in and other data. Part of the demo centre will feature a more familiar "grandma's house" to illustrate the Elma™ and Elsi® motion detection systems for the care sector in a test environment. Photo by Kalle Särkkä.

Waste management company MariMatic is one of the leading designers and manufacturers of waste collection systems in the country and the world. The company has waste collection systems in the Kivisto area of Vantaa and Kruunuvuorenranta in Helsinki, where a regional waste collection system has been built. Elsewhere in Finland, similar collection systems can be found in areas such as Vuoreksi and Tampella in Tampere, the Triple Shopping Centre and the Central Pasila area. The next step will be to design a system for Hernesaare in Helsinki. More commonly known as dwarfs, the waste collection points are dwarfed by their appearance.

However, the biggest markets are outside Finland. MariMatic is currently designing and bidding for the construction of a waste collection system in The Line, a city under construction in north-western Saudi Arabia. The city will be 170 kilometres long and 200 metres wide, rising to a height of 500 metres. The Linear City will connect homes, workplaces, schools, parks and open spaces for nine million people, one layer above the other, so that everything you need is within a five-minute walk.

No need for cars or roads, with underground 20-minute high-speed trains running from one end of the city to the other. The city gets all its energy from solar and wind power. The first phase of the city is due to be completed in 2030.

- Pipe system collection is the only option in The Line, as there are no cars in the city. The idea is that an underground waste train will empty the storage tanks and transport the waste to a waste treatment plant for further processing," says Sami Kääpä, Managing Director of MariMatic International Oy.

- We have carefully planned how, in a city built in this way, waste collection in underground pipelines works best logistically and technically. Thanks to our small pipe size and our intelligent patented waste chutes, the space savings in buildings and underground sections are significant for a construction project of this scale, where up to thousands of kilometres of shafts and pipelines are required.

MariMatic also has two other waste collection system projects underway in Mecca in western Saudi Arabia, which will be fully completed by the end of 2024. Of these, the system in the Ḥarām Mosque area will be the largest waste pipeline system in the world. In addition, MariMatic is building the world's second largest system next to the mosque in the Masar boulevard area.

- These are currently our biggest ongoing projects. In Karbala, Iraq, we have a Taifu suction transfer system built in a chicken slaughterhouse that is almost fully operational," Kääpä says, citing the most recent example of a project.

More than 40 years of work

MariMatic manufactures two types of waste collection systems: the Taifun® waste transfer system for the food industry and healthcare, launched in the 1980s, and the MetroTaifun® pipe transport system, launched in 2010, designed specifically for the underground transport of municipal waste. Over the years, MariMatic has supplied around 1500 systems to more than 40 countries, the majority of which are patented.

MariMatic is part of the Vantaa-based MariGroup group. The group also includes MariElectronics, which consists of several specialised companies. MariElla Labels develops electronic pricing solutions for the retail market, MariMils designs guiding LED lights for evacuation use, and MariCare focuses on the development of intelligent care services, including detection systems for monitoring falls, home functions and vital signs. MariComp provides manufacturing services to other group companies. MariGroup has extensive international operations with subsidiaries in Europe and Asia.

MariGroup companies were founded by Göran Sundholm, an inventor and entrepreneur from Tuusula, who holds around 200 patents in Finland. This is probably the Finnish record for inventions.

At MetroTaifu's Technology and Demonstration Centre, you can see how solid waste travels through the waste collection system. In total, there are 2.4 kilometres of transfer pipes, normally located about two metres underground. In MariMatic's waste collection system, underground pipelines transport waste to the collection stations to the waste containers, so the waste travels silently and, above all, odourlessly. The dense composite pipe only needs a small air flow and suction to transport the waste. The technical solutions of the system are also designed to be energy efficient and hygienic. The emptying of the collection points is automatically initiated by an intelligent control system that optimises the emptying process. This avoids overflowing bins and waste truck traffic on residential streets. Photo by Kalle Särkkä.
The patented formatter, which acts as a pre-treatment device, uses a rotary motion to shape the larger trash bags to fit into the tube. The former allows large waste bags to be fed into a small pipe size system. The garbage bag then travels about two kilometres to the waste container in a matter of minutes. A camera installed in the bin allows the filling process to be monitored. Photo by Kalle Särkkä.

Have you ever wondered where your rubbish goes when you drop it in the underground bins? Follow your waste through the MetroTaifu system at the Triplea shopping centre in Pasila, Helsinki.

Key figures

70% energy efficiency compared to competitors
The smaller ⌀300 mm pipe size and advanced control system make MetroTaifun the most energy-efficient waste pipe system on the market. A patented formatter allows even large waste bags to be fed into the pipeline for transport.

Two of the world's largest waste pipeline systems
The system at the Ḥarām Mosque in Mecca is the world's largest waste pipeline system with a daily collection capacity of 600 tonnes. This is the equivalent of about the size of the Parliament building per day. The system to be built next to the mosque in the Masar boulevard area will be the second largest in the world, with a collection capacity of 300 tonnes per day.

Order book
MariMatic has an order book of over €100 million and growing.

Järvenpää's strengths and business stories

Järvenpää is a great place and opportunity for a wide range of businesses. Our central location and good accessibility make it easy to move products, services and labour in all directions. Järvenpää is at the centre of a 900,000-strong employment area and all the educational organisations in the metropolitan area are within a 30-minute radius.

Companies in Järvenpää are active in networking and Business Järvenpää and its partners help companies on the road to growth, internationalisation and entrepreneurship. The city has four growth networks in different key sectors (food, industry, trade and services, real estate and construction). The Growth Networks address issues that businesses want to address, such as their labour needs, human resources skills, growth and internationalisation-without forgetting local business and economic perspectives and needs.

Do you want to be part of the success stories of companies in Järvenpää? Welcome to become part of Järvenpää's active business life and share your business story with us. Find out more about the city's location opportunities and business servicesBusiness Järvenpääand contact us!

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