Waste management

The management of wastes is primarily the responsibility of the waste producer, who may be a private consumer, a property occupier or a company.

Municipalities must organise the collection, transportation, recovery and treatment of the following waste types:

• everyday household wastes
• wastes generated in connection with the provision of public sector services that are comparable in their quantity and quality to everyday household waste (not including hazardous wastes)
• hazardous wastes generated in homes and in farming, except where the quantities of wastes are excessive

For more information on the managment of municipal wastes see the web page on Municipal wastes.

Producer responsibility

Producers are responsible for arranging and meeting the costs of the management of wastes derived from the following product types:

1. Tyres from motor vehicles or other vehicles or similar equipment. Producers in this legal context include professional manufacturers and importers of tyres or vehicles or equipment fitted with tyres, and tyre retreading firms.
2. Newspapers, magazines, office paper and other comparable paper products. Producers in this legal context include professional manufacturers and importers of printing paper or paper used in the manufacture of other paper products.
3. Packaging (producer responsibility only partial). Producers in this legal context include professional product packagers or the importers of packaged products.
4. Cars, vans and comparable motor vehicles. Producers in this legal context include manufacturers, professional importers and professional dealers of motor vehicles to be used in Finland.
5. Electrical and electronic equipment. Producers in this legal context include manufacturers and importers of electrical and electronic equipment, and any retailers selling such equipment under their own trademark. Producer responsibility does not however cover any equipment designed for military use or other purposes linked to the need to safeguard the security of Finland.

Industries are responsible for arranging and meeting the costs of the management of the wastes they produce.

Fewer landfills

In accordance with the EU Landfill Directive Finnish legislation on landfills and waste tax has raised the cost of the disposal of waste at landfills in order to encourage environmentally favourable forms of waste recovery. 

At the end of 2006 a total of 176 landfill sites were functioning in Finland, of which 138 were general sites dealing with mixed wastes. Of these sites 75 are run by municipalities and 63 by industrial firms. The number of landfills in Finland has decreased considerably in Finland in recent years, with such activities becoming increasingly concentrated in fewer but larger sites. Many of the remaining landfill sites are currently due to be closed down by the end of 2007, when they will no longer meet toughened requirements concerning the sealing of the bases of landfills.

The number of facilities recovering and otherwise treating municipal wastes has correspondingly risen - to a total of 180 by the beginning of 2005.