Mikkeli is less than 1% circular (2019)

• Input circularity 0% 1%
• Output circularity 3% 7%
• Processed materials 1,910,299 tonnes/year 1,982,860 tonnes/year
• End of Life (EoL) waste 210,971 tonnes/year 234,929 tonnes/year
• Secondary materials 6,533 tonnes/year 16,624 tonnes/year

The most significant employment sectors in Mikkeli are human health and social work activities (23%), manufacturing (12%) and wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (10%). The construction sector employs 6% of employees in Mikkeli, which is at the same level as the corresponding percentage for the whole country (7%).

By applying the developed method, it is possible to illustrate that Mikkeli is a linear and carbon-rich city (90-95% linear), processing yearly approximately 1,300 kt of materials, adding 10-20 kt in the building stock and recycling just 4 kt of secondary materials in their economy. From these numbers, the magnitude of the efforts becomes visible. In addition, the "weight" of Mikkeli can be illustrated through its building stock which amounts to 15,000 kt (or 290 t per capita), which requires continuous flows for both its operation and construction. However most of its materials consumption is of its own extraction, so very little material is imported or exported. Most of the imported materials are of fossil energy carriers (84%) when exports are mainly of biomass materials (71%) such as timber, wood based materials and cereals. Domestic material consumption is high, which indicates city-self-sufficiency and therefore less GHG emissions through the need of material transportations.