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Packaging recycling developer in Finland

Sumi Oy is an authorized extended producer responsibility organization in Finland.
Almost 4.000 companies have made a contract with us.
We are a non-profit organization founded in 1992 with 33 owner companies.

Home » News » Collection and recycling rates of non-deposit plastic packaging increased moderately in 2022

Collection and recycling rates of non-deposit plastic packaging increased moderately in 2022

The recycling rate of plastic packaging covered by the producer responsibility of Finnish Plastics Recycling Ltd was 26,13 % in 2022. For the whole of Finland, the recycling rate of plastic packaging was estimated to be 33–35 %. By the year 2025, the recycling rate should be at least 50%. Finnish Plastics Recycling is working to achieve this goal.

Collection rate of the total amount of plastic packaging placed on the market for which Finnish Plastic Recycling Ltd (FPR) is responsible for was 44,97%. Compared to the previous year, the collected amount increased by 3,86 percentage points, but the increase was still smaller than budgeted. The recycling rate of plastic packaging covered by the producer responsibility of Finnish Plastics Recycling was 26,13% in 2022.

Finnish Plastics Recycling estimates that the recycling rate for plastic packaging in the whole of Finland is approximately 33–35%, when all deposit and non-deposit plastic packaging and all producer organizations are taken into account. The estimate is based on the total amount of plastic packaging placed on the market as officially declared by the producer organizations. In the EU and in Finland it is required by law that the recycling rate of plastic packaging must be at least 50% by the year 2025, including both deposit and non-deposit packaging. Finnish Plastics Recycling is working to achieve this goal.

In addition to its own development projects FPR participates in the development of new recycling technologies and keeps a close eye on what is happening in Europe in the field of collection and recycling. Finnish Plastics Recycling has been actively looking for new recycling methods for currently poorly recycled plastic packaging. Some of these methods will probably be implemented in the coming months, and will thus increase the recycling rate already in 2023.

In accordance with legislation, we will promote the growth in collection volumes by increasing the number of collection points to a thousand as of 1 July 2023. Packaging collection from consumers will be made easier by property-specific separate collection, which is required by law as of July in residential properties with at least five homes.

– We hope that consumers sort packaging according to the sorting guidelines, as over half of plastic packaging still ends up somewhere else than in our collection system, says Mika Surakka, the Managing Director of Finnish Plastics Recycling. – Almost a quarter of the material among plastic packaging does not belong there. This makes recycling difficult, and batteries and rechargeable electronic devices among plastic packaging waste cause numerous fires and dangerous situations every year, Surakka continues.

For more information, please contact:

Mika Surakka
Managing Director, Finnish Plastics Recycling Ltd
+358 400 197 848
mika.surakka@sumi.fi