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The producer has a responsibility for their packaging

In Finland, there is legislation on producer responsibility, which means that the producer must organize the waste management of the products they have put on the market and be responsible for the resulting costs.

Producer responsibility obliges the manufacturers and importers of certain products as well as product packers to take care of the end of the life cycle of products subject to producer responsibility, i.e. collection, recycling, reporting and information. Statutory producer responsibility also applies to packaging, so companies that import packaged products or pack them in Finland are covered by producer responsibility.

Sumi Ltd. manages the producer responsibility for the packaging on behalf of the producers who have joined the organization.

Read more about joining the producer responsibility organization.

The packer or the importer of the packaged product is the producer

The producer of the packaging is usually the company that manufactures any product that uses packaging materials to protect the products it sells, for example during transportation or distribution.

As of January 1, 2024, the packaging manufacturer is a producer, in addition to the packaging it uses for its own packaging, in terms of service and cultivation packaging.

After 1 January 2024, the producer of the packaging can be e.g.:

  • the manufacturer of the product who packs or gets its product packed
  • the importer of the packaged product (= the company that owns the package at the time of product entry to the market)
  • manufacturer of service packages (e.g. for cafes and restaurant takeaway packages)
  • packaging of unprocessed agricultural and horticultural products i.e. manufacturer of farmer’s packages

News

Stay up-to-date on packaging producer responsibility and Sumi’s operations.

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Producer responsibility

Producer responsibility generally means the obligation of packers and manufacturers and importers of products named in the Waste Act to organize post-use waste management and utilization in accordance with the requirements of producer responsibility at their own expense.

For different products, you must join the producer community of the field corresponding to each product. The producer association of the packaging takes care of producer responsibility for the packaging, but if the packaged product is also covered by producer responsibility (e.g. electrical or electronic device), you must join the corresponding producer association for that.

You can find information on other areas of producer responsibility: www.tuottajayhteiso.fi

You can also read more about producer responsibility on the website of the ELY Center: www.elykeskus.fi/producer responsibility

Producer responsibility organization

The producer responsibility organization manages the producer responsibility obligations centrally on behalf of the producers who joined it.

Read more about joining the producer responsibility organization.