In-Sink Grinders Turn Food Scraps into Slurry, Cutting Smelly Waste in Tampere Pilot

A 2025 pilot at POAS student housing in Kissanmaa, Tampere tested in-sink grinders that mill kitchen scraps into a fine slurry to cut smelly, leaking organic waste in apartments, YLE reported.

Residents say the system has eased daily life. Food scraps are flushed with cold water into an under-sink grinder, milled into slurry and sent to an underground collection tank. Most liquid is piped to the wastewater treatment plant, while solids are removed later by vacuum truck.

The solution was developed by Tampere company Ber, and began as an idea from the late father of CEO Joonas Salonen; it has been refined with environmental authorities.

POAS CEO Timo Jokinen says the installation in the 2025 building has been technically reliable and largely maintenance-free. The short pilot produced mixed results on sorting rates, and the city waste management committee will review the findings next week.

POAS plans an installation in Hervanta but notes costs, possible rent impacts and the need for major pipe renovations in existing buildings when considering a wider rollout.

The pilot coincides with city inspections of household food-waste composters this spring planned composter inspections and follows the shutdown of the Vuores pneumatic waste system earlier in 2026 the Vuores system shutdown.