About Map Sites

A
            s Oslo expands, construction sites generate massive amounts of surplus excavated soil, calculated to more than 15 millions tons per year, spread all around the Oslo region. We've developed a geographic model to track where it all ends up, detecting land movements up to a 1 meter across the region since 2007. Our goal is to make this invisible industry visible and inform the public.




 Scales
According to Oberender et al. (2021), Oslo and the Akershus region move approximately 12 to 15 million tons of surplus annually. Of this, only 20-30% is recycled or repurposed, with most ending in landfills or being used to cover red-listed environments such as the ravines in Romerike. The city of Oslo depends completely on its hinterland for both sourcing construction materials and disposing of excavated earth, as there are no landfills or treatment facilities within the municipality boundaries.

Large public infrastructure projects are the major driver of this activity, accounting for 40% of the total dumped material.

Major players include: Statsbygg, Veidekke, AF Gruppen, Skanska, and Consto.

 Profitability
According to Bjørnar Sæther (2025), the city is currently experiencing a shortage of dumping sites, which has made mass management a highly lucrative business. Following his research, companies like NOAH Engadalen, who were not profitable in 2007, have seen their dividends surge from 20 million NOK in 2021 to 50 million NOK in 2023. From large corporations to individual landowners, the industry is having its boom.

The practice of landowners moving masses has existed for a long time, as that was how they planned and flattened the rough plain of Romerike. But it has never been so profitable. In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in permit applications to dump material on properties, as well as to transform ravines into landfills, in order to create more "arable land."

 Risks
As permit applications have increased in the municipalities, officials are concerned about the risks involved, as it is not always known what the contents of the masses are, and the precise dumping locations are not properly monitored.

The risks are real. Past incidents have demonstrated the catastrophic consequences of dumping excavated material near quick clay areas, triggering devastating landslides. In November 2016, a landslide in Sørum municipality killed three forestry workers from Lithuania after large amounts of excavated material were dumped on a slope. The most devastating recent incident occurred in Gjerdrum in December 2020, where a quick clay landslide killed ten people, including two children.

Even very large public companies like Bane Nor have been involved in serious incidents. According to Sæther (2025), they dumped 4.5 million m³ of excavated material from the Follo tunnel construction containing uranium, which slowly leached into the ground. Despite being aware of the problem as early as 2017, they failed to notify the municipalities or the neighbors. The company apologized in 2023.

 Black Market
The masses are transported by truck from Oslo to neighboring municipalities within a radius of 50 km. As the construction surplus crosses municipality boundaries, the tracking of its contents is lost. There is no actual tracing of mass movements by any public institution.

The legal loopholes and minimal monitoring by authorities allow companies to work under the radar. As the business grows and legal dumping places become scarce, informal practices are becoming more and more common.

 Invisible
There is virtually no public data on these waste streams at the local and regional scale. No institution tracks the flows, origins, or destinations of these masses. This makes mass management a shadowy business operating largely outside public view.

Our project aims to change that—documenting and mapping this hidden flow of earth and making the information accessible to everyone. As awareness grows about how we're reshaping the land we live on, transparency is essential. We want anyone to understand what's happening in their municipality and join the conversation.

This work builds on research by Bjørnar Sæther and colleagues, Anne Marte Aure, and others cited throughout.

This is a work on progress, sites are being updating every week. There might be mistakes, please verify information with the sources that are cited and if you have any comments please reach out to :


hello@lub.global



Thanks !!!









INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY NOTICE

Dirty Business™ is a project of Laboratory for Urban Boundaries (lub).

© 2025 Laboratory for Urban Boundaries. All rights reserved.

All content, including but not limited to maps, data visualizations,
text, code, and graphics, is protected under Norwegian copyright law
(Åndsverkloven) and EU database directive (96/9/EC).

Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or commercial use is
prohibited without written permission.

For licensing inquiries: hello@lub.global