Newcomers in EPR have a lot on their table

Would you tell us about your company Riikka Koksu, the founder of Pliide?

Pliide is a company founded by a woman from Savonia based in Helsinki, that stirs up with magnets and offers other good spirit products in a web shop and through distributors. The core of Pliide is doing things together. The texts on the magnets are devised together with social media people and the most liked texts end up on the products.

Pliide started in 2015 due to a change in career. The only thing that remains from the first years is the name. If someone would have told me when I started as the pandemic washed away my job that I would set up a web shop and manage to cope with making refrigerator magnets and badges with a button machine for years on end, I would have had a good laugh. But life has a big sense of humour, so I am quite happy working as the magnet mogul and button merchant.

Where did you hear about packaging EPR?

For the first time I read about it on social media around October 2023 when someone had received a news release and asked whether it was a scam. I started investigating the matter and felt chills – it seemed that this matter that had been in preparation for long, had not been considered from the point of view of micro entrepreneurs. It would involve fees to be paid and more or less administrative burden. The matter as such is sensible and can be supported. The one who produces waste must pay.

What do your first experiences of taking care of EPR look like?

All information I found in 2023 was intended for companies with a turnover of more than one million euros. There was information that a change was in the pipeline, but no help was offered to a one-person company. My business is run from my living room corner and all related goods and material fit on a couple of shelves and a desk and I admit that I was overwhelmed. I tried to figure out whether EPR concerned me, and if it did, when should I join, what would it involve, and first and foremost what will it cost.

What kind of help did you get in taking care of EPR?

I asked the customer service for advice, and I clearly was among the first to ask because the answers I got were vague. For example, I received different advice on when to join – you must join in 2023 and it is sufficient to join in 2024. I followed the discussions on social media and notices, and because there had just been the discussion on the increase of the YEL insurance fee, my spirits were not too high. I took a timeout and thought that I am not going to lose my mind over this matter. I will stop mulling it over and tackle the matter head-on. What is it about, what will it require from me and then I will just act accordingly. And well enough I did find the information from the rinkiin.fi web page, when I really concentrated on reading and did not bother that the text was intended for big companies. Later there have been video clips, emails and other information available. I think I was an early bird in this matter.

What would be your hint for other small companies with EPR?

Take a deep breath. The amount of administrative work seems bigger than it really is. If your company has EPR, select a producer organization and join at rinkiin.fi as soon as possible. Go and see the light declaration form. When you know what is required from you it is easier to consider how to deal with it with the least effort. The biggest cost item is the administrative fee. The recycling fees are only some euros if your packaging volume is in kilograms.