Pidä Saaristo Siistinä ry

What Pidä Saaristo Siistinä ry does

Pidä Saaristo Siistinä ry (PSS ry) is a Finnish non-profit association founded in 1969 and headquartered in Turku, Finland, focused on protecting the Baltic Sea and Finland's inland waters from pollution, eutrophication, and litter. The organization operates a distributed physical infrastructure of more than 200 Roope service points and approximately 30 floating sewage emptying stations (imutyhjennysasemat) across Finnish marine and lake areas, supported by a fleet of four maintenance vessels (including M/S Roope, M/S Roope-Botnia, and the solar-powered Roska-Roope debris collection vessel) and five maintenance boats. Its core products centre on waterway waste services, beach cleanup programmes (Siisti Biitsi and its companion mobile app), marina certification (Roope-satamaohjelma), an interactive service-point map (Roope-kartta), and a barnacle alert service for boaters (Rocco-palvelu).

The organization also runs environmental education programmes (kummikoulu for schools), multi-year monitoring of shoreline litter (Rantaroskaseuranta), and participates in larger EU-co-funded initiatives such as the seven-year PlastLIFE project and the Mahanpuruja muovista storm-drain awareness campaign. PSS ry's business model is a hybrid non-profit funding structure: membership fees from approximately 10,000 individual members (constituting roughly one-third of revenue), donations via MobilePay and bank transfer, recurring corporate partnerships with numerous Finnish brands and waste management firms, and grants from government programmes and foundations. The organization employs 19 people and serves three primary segments: individual members and waterway users (primary), corporate partners, and schools/municipalities. Distribution is entirely domestic, with no public listing, no PE/VC backing, and no subsidiaries.

Name

Pidä Saaristo Siistinä ry

Legal name

Pidä Saaristo Siistinä ry

Website

https://pidasaaristosiistina.fi

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pidä Saaristo Siistinä ry is a Finnish non-profit association operating 200+ Roope waterway service points, sewage emptying stations, and maintenance vessels for boaters, while running the Siisti Biitsi beach cleanup programme for its ~10,000 members across Finland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marine Environmental Services

NAICS

Remediation and Other Waste Management Services (5629), Support Activities for Water Transportation (4883), Hazardous Waste Collection (562112)

SIC

Hazardous Waste Management (4955), Sanitary Services (4950), Refuse Systems (4953)

akta.pro primary industry

Marine & Coastal Remediation (Shoreline/Port Spill Cleanup) (IMAIAGAI)

Keywords

• Marine environmental services
• Waterway waste management
• Beach cleanup programs
• Boater sewage services
• Citizen science monitoring

Headquarters

HQ city

Turku

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Annual membership fees from approximately 10,000 members across Finland. Membership fees constitute approximately one third of the organization's funding.
2. Donations: Individual donations including one-time gifts, monthly recurring donations, commemorative donations, memorial donations, and testamentary bequests. Donation options include MobilePay and bank transfer.
3. Corporate Partnerships: Business partnerships and corporate sponsorships where companies support the organization's environmental work in exchange for association with the cause. Partners include various Finnish companies across sectors.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Pidä Saaristo Siistinä ry operates a network of approximately 200 Roope service points across Finland's Baltic Sea archipelago and inland lakes, providing boaters with waste collection, septic tank emptying, and environmentally responsible vessel services. The organization supplements these physical services with citizen science beach cleanup programs (Siisti Biitsi), environmental education for schools, marina certification, and beach litter monitoring programs.

Product overview

Pidä Saaristo Siistinä ry operates a network-based environmental service offering anchored by its Roope-palvelut (Roope Services), which encompass approximately 200 service points across Finnish marine and lake areas. The core Roope Services include waste collection, septic tank emptying (via approximately 30 floating imutyhjennysasemat), and waste sorting support for boaters. The offering is delivered through four maintenance vessels (huoltoalukset) and five maintenance boats, including the solar-powered Roska-Roope surface litter collection vessel and M/S Roope. Adjacent products and programmes include the Siisti Biitsi beach cleanup programme with its companion mobile app (Siisti Biitsi -sovellus), the Siisti Biitsi kummikouluohjelma for schools, the Roope-satamaohjelma marina certification programme, the Roope-kartta interactive map, the Rocco barnacle notification service, and the Rantaroskaseuranta beach litter monitoring programme. The PlastLIFE project and Mahanpuruja muovista campaign represent larger environmental projects within the portfolio. The portfolio functions as a platform of interconnected service points and programmes rather than a unified software product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Roope-palvelut: Environmental service points for waterway users providing waste collection and sewage pump-out facilities across the Baltic Sea and Finnish lakes.
• Roope-satamaohjelma
• Roska-Roope
• Siisti Biitsi
• Mahanpuruja muovista
• Rocco-palvelu
• Roope-kartta

Products and services

• Roope-palvelut (Roope Services) A network of approximately 200 service points for boaters providing waste collection, septic tank emptying, and environmentally friendly services for vessels across Finnish marine and lake areas, reducing eutrophication and keeping waters free of litter. Available to individual boaters, waterway users, and cottage owners.
• Siisti Biitsi -ohjelma (Siisti Biitsi Programme) A nationwide citizen science beach cleanup programme inviting volunteers to collect and report litter from shorelines using the Siisti Biitsi mobile app, contributing to environmental education and shoreline monitoring. Open to individuals, school groups, and community organizations.
• Roope-satamaohjelma (Roope Marina Programme) A certification programme helping boat harbours develop their operations with environmental and safety considerations, guiding visitors toward environmentally responsible practices. Certified marinas display the Roope flag as a mark of environmental responsibility.
• Roska-Roope (Solar-powered Debris Vessel) A surface litter collection vessel powered by solar panels mounted on its roof, used to skim floating debris from waterways, functioning as an environmentally friendly collection boat deployed by the organization in Finnish waters.
• Huoltoalukset ja -veneet (Maintenance Vessels and Boats) A fleet of four maintenance vessels (including M/S Roope and M/S Roope-Botnia) and five maintenance boats with crews that annually collect hundreds of tonnes of combustible waste, metal, and glass, and empty hundreds of cubic metres of vessel sewage from emptying stations across the Baltic Sea and Finnish lakes.
• Imutyhjennysasemat (Floating Sewage Emptying Stations) Approximately 30 floating sewage emptying stations placed in various water areas, allowing boaters to empty their septic tanks; each station holds approximately six cubic metres of waste containing significant nutrients that would otherwise contribute to eutrophication.
• Roope-jätepisteet (Roope Waste Collection Points) Waste collection points at Roope service stations where boaters can dispose of sorted waste including mixed waste, glass, metal, and paper, managed as part of the Roope service network across Finnish waterways.
• Rocco-palvelu (Rocco Service) A free email notification service for members that alerts when barnacles (sea roach/merirokko) begin attaching to boat hulls, supporting toxin-free boating by enabling timely non-toxic hull cleaning.
• Kummikouluohjelma (Adopt-a-School Programme) An environmental education programme for schools and hobby groups where children and young people learn to understand aquatic nature from a littering perspective, including educational tasks, cleanup activities, and structured learning materials.
• Rantaroskaseuranta (Beach Litter Monitoring Programme) A systematic shoreline litter monitoring programme running since 2011, currently covering 15 monitoring sites from Kalajoki in the north to Utö in the south, conducted as part of EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive requirements and producing annual public reports.
• Mahanpuruja muovista -kampanja (Fish Food for Plastic Campaign) An environmental awareness campaign using fish-themed stickers on urban storm drains to highlight how litter enters waterways and ultimately the Baltic Sea, aimed at reducing littering behaviour. The campaign won best print of 2024.

Quantifiable outcome

• 200 Roope service points providing waste disposal for boaters
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• BeweshipminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner supporting Pidä Saaristo Siistinä ry's environmental work. Listed as a cooperation partner on the organization's website.
• TwoBirdsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner supporting the organization's environmental mission. Listed among business cooperation partners.
• ClimeconminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner. Listed among business cooperation partners on the organization's website.
• HelvarminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner supporting the organization's environmental work.
• KappAhlminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner. Listed among business cooperation partners.
• LM SomeCominorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner in marketing and communications. Listed among business cooperation partners.
• MakiaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner. Listed among business cooperation partners.
• RuisrockminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner (music festival). Listed among business cooperation partners.
• KorutrahaksiminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner. Listed among business cooperation partners.
• TaffelminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner. Listed among business cooperation partners.
• Turku EnergiaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner (energy company). Listed among business cooperation partners.
• Åland HotelsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner (hospitality). Listed among business cooperation partners.
• Lounais-Suomen JätehuoltocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWaste management company collaborating on summer scrap collection campaigns in the Archipelago Sea. Partners with PSS ry on M/S Roope vessel services and construction waste bag services for island properties.
• StormossencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWaste management company collaborating on scrap collection campaigns in the Bay of Bothnia region.
• MustankorkeacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWaste management company collaborating on scrap collection campaigns, particularly for the Northern Lake Päijänne area in Jyväskylä.
• Brush 'n GominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Rocco service for monitoring sea squirt (merirokko) attachment. Has installed monitoring panels in the Archipelago Sea for tracking sea squirt larvae settlement.
• Finnboat ry (Venealan Keskusliitto)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFinnish Marine Industries Association providing expertise and boat buyer guidance content for the organization's resources.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights12 records

Regional players

• Suomen ympäristökeskus (SYKE) / Finnish Environment Institute: Finnish government research institute that has run the Meriroskahaaste (sea litter challenge) and manages national marine litter monitoring data; regional public-sector counterpart that also funds and crowdsources citizen cleanup initiatives.

Broad incumbents

• Keep Britain Tidy: Long-established UK environmental charity pioneering the citizen cleanup and beach litter monitoring model that Pidä Saaristo Siistinä ry later adopted; comparable mission and operating model at much larger scale.
• Surfrider Foundation: Large international NGO running beach cleanup, citizen science (Ocean Friendly program), and advocacy — covers similar beach litter activities at much greater scale across multiple countries.
• Ocean Conservancy: Global ocean NGO operating the International Coastal Cleanup, a citizen-science litter initiative comparable to Siisti Biitsi, and pursuing marine policy reform at scale across multiple jurisdictions.

Direct peers

• Håll Sverige Rent (Keep Sweden Tidy): Swedish non-profit association with the same Keep the Archipelago Tidy model — runs beach cleanup programs, citizen science, and harbors environmental campaigns targeting the Baltic Sea. Closest Nordic peer by mission and operating model.
• Hold Danmark Rent (Keep Denmark Tidy): Danish anti-litter NGO running citizen-driven beach and harbor cleanup programs focused on Danish waters; structurally comparable as a small non-profit dependent on membership, donations, and grants.
• Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG): Finnish foundation focused on restoring the Baltic Sea through corporate partnerships and ecosystem projects. Operates in the same Baltic Sea protection space and competes for the same corporate CSR and government funding pools.
• John Nurminen Foundation: Finnish foundation focused on protecting and restoring the Baltic Sea and its cultural heritage via large-scale projects, communications, and corporate partnerships; competes for funding and visibility in the same space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/pssry
• Facebookfacebook.com/pidasaaristosiistina
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pidasaaristosiistina
• Instagraminstagram.com/pidasaaristosiistina

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pidä Saaristo Siistinä ry