Finland exceeded its recycling targets for packaging in 2018
In 2018, the overall recycling rate for packaging in Finland was 70%, compared to 65% in the previous year. Finland exceeded all the current material-specific EU recycling targets in 2018. The national targets were also exceeded in all materials categories.
| Recycling rate 2018 (%) | Target (%) | |||||
| Total | Non-deposit | Deposit | EU 2008 | National 2016 non-deposit | National 2016 deposit | |
| Fibre packaging | 116 | 116 | – | 60 | 80 | – |
| Glass packaging | 99 | 98 | 100 | 60 | 27 | 90 |
| Metal packaging | 90 | 86 | 98 | 50 | 75 | 90 |
| Plastic packaging | 31 | 22 | 91 | 22.5 | 16 | 90 |
| Wooden packaging | 24 | 24 | – | 15 | 17 | – |
Compared to 2017, the recycling rates in 2018 showed growth in all materials categories. The recycling rate for wooden packaging increased the most, from 15% to 24%. A record volume of non-deposit glass and plastic packaging was also recycled. The recycling rate for glass packaging increased from 92% to 99%, and for plastic packaging from 27% to 31%.
Reusing packaging reduces the use of new packaging
Reusing of packaging increased in 2018. In 2017, the reuse rate of packaging was 61%, and this rate increased to 64% in 2018. When packaging is reused, the need for new packaging is reduced. Metal, wooden and plastic transport packaging are the types of packaging that are especially often reused.
The overall packaging use in 2018 was 2.04 million tonnes, of which 1.30 million tonnes (64%) was reused and 0.74 million tonnes (36%) was new packaging placed on the market.
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Advance notice: Reporting of packaging data will change in 2021