Every year, the many trucks responsible for keeping Helsinki‘s streets clean dump tonnes of snow and debris from the streets into the Baltic Sea in the southern district of Hernesaari. Unfortunately, along with the snow, gravel, various types of rubbish and many microplastics end up in the sea, contributing to the pollution of the Baltic Sea, which is already one of the most polluted seas in the world. In mid-November, the Finnish government submitted a bill to parliament for approval that would ban the dumping of snow in the Baltic Sea from March 2028. With the deadline so close, it will not be easy to find places within a reasonable distance of the city to dump snow removed from the roads. Helsinki will enforce the law, but it is likely that more snow will remain on the roadsides for a while, causing slightly worse traffic conditions.
