Ecological thinking has emerged more strongly in Finland since the late
1980s. On all levels of society, environmental concerns are being taken
into account more carefully than before: Finland actively supports
international environmental agreements, environmental organisations and
ecological lifestyles have become more popular, and the number of
companies marketing the ecological aspects of their products has
increased. On a very practical level, every person has the possibility of
contributing to the well-being of the environment. One can reduce the
amount of waste that ends up on landfill sites by separating household
wastes that can be recycled and reused.
But is it common to recycle in Finland? What materials can be recycled,
and where can the recyclables be taken? What do people actually think
about recycling? These questions are reviewed in this paper by examining
two sample municipalities: Tampere, a large city, and Kauhava, a rural
community.
The term “recycling” is usually used to refer to the industrial process
where used materials are transformed into new ones. “Recycling” can,
however, also be used more loosely as a synonym for the process of
separating household waste into recyclable and non-recyclable materials.
In this paper, the term is primarily used in the latter sense, referring
to domestic recycling that is an option for everyone.
Kauhava and Tampere as Examples of Recycling Options and Practises
Kauhava and Tampere are good cases in point when it comes to the
organisation of recycling in Finland. Kauhava is a small, rural town in
the northern part of the province of Western Finland, with a little over
8,100 inhabitants (Population). Kauhava is quite sparsely populated: even
though the majority of the population nowadays lives in the town centre,
some of the population is scattered in smaller hamlets farther away from
the centre. A good indicator of the size and density of the population is
the organisation of public transportation. Public transportation has not
been developed, as it would be inefficient in such a sparsely populated
area as Kauhava. Thus, people are dependent on their own cars.
Tampere, on the other hand, is a large city with over 200,000
inhabitants (Population), situated in the southern part of the province of
Western Finland. Tampere has an efficient public transportation system,
which indicates a high population density. Using buses is often faster and
easier than driving one’s car.
In a way, Kauhava and Tampere represent two typical situations in
Finland. Most Finnish municipalities have a small, sparse population, and
Kauhava serves as an example of this category. There are some large
cities, however, whose population is significant compared to that of the
whole country, and Tampere illustrates the problems and advantages of
recycling in a big city.
Ideals and Regulations Concerning Recycling
The average Finn produces approximately 200 kilos of household waste
each year. Out of this amount, one third is bio-waste, one third is paper,
and one third dry residual waste. The dry residual waste usually ends up
on landfill sites (Tamperelaisen ympäristöopas). With these figures in
mind, it is not difficult to see the need for a comprehensive waste
management system. Recycling is an important — but not the only
— step in the process of managing waste. A simple rule of thumb is:
“Reduce — Reuse — Recycle” (Waste Guide). Primarily, it is
important to minimize the amount of waste produced by avoiding excessively
packed or throwaway products and choosing durable and repairable products
(Tamperelaisen ympäristöopas, Waste Guide). After that, one can start
thinking about recycling the waste that gets produced in any case. In
short, these are the general aims toward which Finnish recycling policy
aims.
While there is still much to be done before the general ideals can be
reached, some significant progress has occurred in Finnish recycling
policy. The progress is, however, quite a recent phenomenon. The Ministry
of the Environment was established in Finland only in 1983. Especially
since the emergence of the concept of sustainable development in the late
1980s, environmental protection has been taken into better consideration
on all levels of society. The government and municipal authorities have
created a number of recommendations and regulations aiming at a better
environment. For example, cities are required to give waste management
regulations that conform to the Finnish Waste Act (Jätettä ei jätetä,
Yleiset jätehuoltomääräykset).
Before this emergence of environmental considerations in municipal
administration, recycling was far less common than nowadays. There also
used to be several landfill sites in every town instead of the modern
solid waste management sites in only a few cities, says Kari Hongisto,
chief of environmental issues in Kauhava (Hongisto). In addition to
government and municipal authorities, various organisations, such as the
companies which manage waste, non-profit environmental organisations, and
universities and other educational organisations, also advise in and give
information about recycling. Tampere University, for example, hosts the
Ecocampus project, whose goal is to inform university students and staff
about the environmental impacts the university produces (Ecocampus).
There are important social and economic advantages to efficient
recycling. First, recycling saves resources. Recycled materials can be
used to produce new products that would otherwise have to be made out of
new raw materials, such as oil, wood, or metal. Second, recycling
biological waste reduces the methane emissions from landfill sites and
thus prevents global warming, as methane is one of the most harmful
greenhouse gases (Tamperelaisen ympäristöopas). Third, recycling
reduces the amount of waste ending up on landfill sites, which decreases
the contamination of the soil and saves land for other purposes.
The waste management regulations given by the authorities of Kauhava
and Tampere state that recyclable materials must be separated from
household waste and taken to appropriate collection points (Yleiset
jätehuoltomääräykset, Jätettä ei jätetä). However, this point can only be
described as a recommendation, as there is no legislation that would
oblige people to recycle their waste. So at present, the regulations are
merely a guideline towards the ideal objective.
Recycling Options for Household Waste in Kauhava and Tampere
In Finland, the options for recycling household waste differ depending
on where one lives. Some options exist for everyone, and some only for
people living in certain areas or cities. In general, basic household
waste can be divided into dry residual waste, hazardous waste, and
recyclable materials (Waste Guide). Materials that can be recycled in
Finland — at least in some places — include paper, bio-waste,
metals, glass, brown cardboard, carton packages, and plastics
(Kuluttajaviraston ostajan oppaat).
Finnish communal waste is managed by companies that are owned by groups
of municipalities. Tampere belongs to a group of twenty-three
municipalities that own Tampere Regional Solid Waste Management Ltd. (in
Finnish Pirkanmaan jätehuolto oy). Kauhava belongs to a group of
fourteen municipalities that own Etappi, Ltd. (in Finnish Lakeuden
Etappi oy). These companies collect both recyclable materials and dry
residual waste. They also collect hazardous waste and many other materials
and products that cannot be used anymore and have to be disposed of, such
as construction waste and large objects like refrigerators (Tampere
Regional, Etappi).
The companies that manage waste maintain three “levels” of waste
collection points where recyclable materials can be taken after they have
been separated from other household waste at home. The three levels are:
(1) eco-points, (2) eco-centres, and (3) solid waste management sites.
Eco-Points Are Used for the Most Common Recyclable Materials
In both Kauhava and Tampere, there are a number of so-called
“eco-points” (in Finnish ekopiste or hyötyjätepiste), places
where one can take the most common recyclable materials. Eco-points are
usually situated close to supermarkets or schools, i.e. places where
people go frequently anyway. The number of eco-points depends on the size
of the city: in Kauhava, there are twenty-three eco-points, whereas in
Tampere there are eighty-one (Kauhavan ekopisteet, Tampereen
hyötyjätepisteet).
In Kauhava, the eco-points do not collect as many separate types of
recyclables as in Tampere. One can only take paper, glass, metals, and
batteries there (Kauhavan ekopisteet). This is due to the fact that the
population is so small that collecting other materials would actually
consume more energy and resources than only collecting dry residual waste
(Hongisto). In Tampere, some eco-points have collection bins for many
different materials, some only for a few. The most common materials are
paper, glass, metals, and batteries; these are collected in nearly all of
the eco-points. Carton package collection bins are also common. Quite a
few eco-points also have bins for used clothes (Tampereen
hyötyjätepisteet). However, these bins are not emptied by the waste
management companies, but instead by certain charity organisations that
give the clothes to people in need. This is an example of the ability of
the eco-points to be expanded in many ways to cover not only materials
that must be processed before they are re-used, but also materials and
object that can be taken to use right away.
There are no collection points for plastics in either Kauhava or
Tampere, because collecting and recycling plastics is not yet very common
in Finland. There are no collection bins for bio-waste in eco-points
either. The reason for this is that blocks of flats have their own bins
for bio-waste, and people living in single-family houses are encouraged to
use their own compost bins. In Kauhava, there are not very many large
blocks of flats in the first place, and the result is that bio-waste is
collected in only a few places.
Eco-Centres Accept All Types of Recyclable Waste
However, there are many types of recyclable materials that are not
collected in eco-points. These should be taken to an “eco-centre” (in
Finnish jäteasema or hyötyjätekeskus), a collection centre
for all household waste (Waste Guide). There is at least one eco-centre in
every town; in Tampere there are two, in Nekala and Teisko. In Kauhava,
the eco-centre accepts all household waste except for carton packages and
plastics (Kauhava). The reason why these materials are not accepted is
that there is no collection system for them yet.
According to Katja Törmänen, adviser in waste management at Etappi,
Ltd., bio-waste is accepted, too, but it is charged the same fee as waste
that has not been separated at all, because at present it is very
expensive to transport the bio-waste to a treatment plant in Vaasa, eighty
kilometres away1 (Törmänen).
In Tampere, the eco-centres accept a larger variety of recyclables than
in Kauhava: plastics and carton packages are accepted, as there is an
effective recycling system for them (Tarastenjärven
jätteenkäsittelykeskus, pientuojien lajittelupiste).
Solid Waste Management Sites Are Recycling Facilities in
Connection to Landfill Sites
Larger amounts of waste (recyclable or not) have to be taken to solid
waste management sites (in Finnish jätteenkäsittelykeskus), which
are usually connected to landfill sites. These sites accept waste from
both households and companies (Waste Guide). There are two such sites in
the area covered by Tampere Regional Solid Waste Management Ltd., one in
Tarastenjärvi, Tampere, and one in Koukkujärvi, Nokia. In the Etappi area
there is one solid waste management site, which is in Ilmajoki, about 70
kilometres southwest from Kauhava. The solid waste management sites have
replaced the traditional landfill sites, and for example in the Etappi
area, there are no other landfill sites in use anymore than the one in
Ilmajoki.
Mobile Collection for Recyclable Materials
Transporting the waste to an appropriate recycling centre can sometimes
be problematic. The eco-centre might be situated far away, which is
especially the case in Tampere. There are only two centres for 200,000
people in Tampere, one of them on the edge of the city, so some people are
bound to live quite far away from them. Some people do not have a car of
their own, and some objects, such as old refrigerators, can be difficult
to transport even if one has a car. To help in transportation problems,
Tampere Regional Solid Waste Management Ltd. has organised a scheduled
mobile collection called Repe&Romu for hazardous waste and
electrical appliances (Repe&Romu). The service is free, which makes it
easier for people to properly dispose of materials and objects that are
harmful to the environment.
Waste Management Is Funded by Fees
Both in Tampere and in Kauhava, it is obligatory for every household to
have a collection bin for dry residual waste (Jätettä ei jätetä, Kauhava).
Several households may share a bin, but nevertheless there has to be one.
The functioning of the waste management is funded by monthly fees
collected from waste bin owners. People living in blocks of flats do not
usually have to think about the fees in detail, because the housing
company takes care of them, and charges for them in the rent. People
living in single-family houses, however, have to decide upon the type of
waste bin they are going to buy on the basis of how much waste they
produce. The bins of individual households should usually be emptied every
two weeks. In Tampere, the fee for emptying a waste bin
of 240 liters (a bin commonly used by families) once is 2.93 euros, and in
Kauhava 4.68 euros2 (Jätemaksutaksa,
Kotitalouksien maksut).
In addition to the fee paid for the emptying of waste bins, Etappi Ltd.
collects an obligatory “eco-fee” from every household. Paying the eco-fee
allows one to take recyclable materials to the eco-points and the
eco-centres. For one single-family house, the eco-fee is 2.26 euros per
month (Kotitalouksien maksut). In Tampere, there is no eco-fee, and
people may take recyclables to the eco-points for free.
What Do People Think and Do About Recycling?
Despite the regulations and recommendations concerning recycling, not
everybody recycles their waste. To find out what people actually think
about recycling and what materials they recycle — if they recycle at
all — a sample of the population was given a questionnaire in both
Kauhava and Tampere. Six students in tertiary education and ten
middle-aged persons filled in the questionnaire in Kauhava, and ten
students and five middle-aged persons in Tampere. Thus the people who
completed the questionnaire in the two cities form two groups of almost
the same size. The students mostly lived in blocks of flats and the
middle-aged people in single-family houses.
The questionnaire consisted of the following
questions: 3
- Age, gender, occupation, form of housing
- What materials do you separate for recycling in your household?
- How far from your home is the nearest collection point for recyclable waste?
- Why do you recycle? / Why do you not recycle?
- Do you consider recycling to be easy to do?
- Do you think that it is easy to get information about recycling?
How Recycling Practises Differ Between Tampere and Kauhava
Finland produces approximately 70,000,000 tonnes of waste yearly.
Household waste is included in the category of the solid waste produced by
communities. This category comprised roughly 3.7 percent, i.e. 2,600,000
tonnes, of the total amount in 2000. Not all of that waste ended up on
landfill sites, as forty percent of it was reused in some form, either as
energy or material. However, sixty percent of the amount was taken to
landfill sites (Jätemäärät).
How much waste ends up on landfill sites in general depends on the
recycling practises of every individual. As was pointed out in the section
on possibilities for recycling, waste management companies offer differing
facilities for separating household waste in Tampere and Kauhava. Some
facilities exist in both places, but others do not. The differing answers
to the question “What materials do you separate for recycling in
your household?” show that the availability of recycling facilities
for certain materials close by directly affects the number of people
recycling the materials.
The recycling of paper, metals and glass is organised equally well in
Tampere and Kauhava, as there were no differences between the habits of
the people interviewed. Nearly everyone who was interviewed in both cities
recycled paper. Separating metals from household waste was also common:
two thirds of the people interviewed in both cities recycled metals.
Recycling glass was equally common. There were only five people who did
not recycle glass. Probably the reason why it is so common to recycle
these three materials is that there are a number of collection points for
them, and people find it easy enough to take the materials to the right
place.
On the other hand, the recycling of plastics is organised equally
poorly in both cities. None of the people interviewed separated
plastics in order to take them to a collection point, because there are no
collection bins for plastics in the eco-points. The eco-centre in Kauhava
does not accept plastics, and even though the centres in Tampere do, it
seems to be too difficult for most people in Tampere to take plastics to
the eco-centres that are situated far away. Four people, however, did
separate plastics from other household waste. They burned them in their
fireplaces or outside their houses. Burning rubbish outside is naturally
only possible outside the town or city centre (Jätettä ei jätetä).
The recycling of carton packages, brown cardboard, and bio-waste is
organised better in Tampere. None of the people interviewed in Kauhava
recycled carton packages, and only a few people separated brown cardboard
from other rubbish, because the collection of the materials has not been
organised. In Kauhava, there are no collection bins for bio-waste in the
eco-points, and only a few bins in connection to some blocks of flats, so
only one person separated bio-waste for organised recycling. Three people,
however, had their own compost bins, and they recycled bio-waste in their
back yard. In Tampere, twelve out of the fifteen people interviewed
recycled bio-waste, nine people carton packages, and ten people brown
cardboard.
Attitudes towards Recycling in Kauhava and Tampere
Why Do People Recycle, According to the Questionnaire?
The most important question in the questionnaire was: “Why do you
recycle?” The answers were various. Most commonly, however, people
answered that they recycled because they wanted to protect the
environment. Out of the thirty-one people interviewed, fourteen mentioned
this as one of the reasons why they recycled. Either
they did not want the waste they had produced to enlarge landfill
sites,4 or they wanted to keep the
environment cleaner and healthier. Some people mentioned they considered
dumping everything onto landfill sites a waste of resources (3 mentions).
After environmental considerations, the second most common reason for
recycling was a little surprising: people recycled because it was a fixed
habit that they usually did not even think about (7). Equally many
people thought that it was sensible and wise to recycle (7). The ease of
recycling was also mentioned as a reason for doing it (3). Some people
also felt that, for them, recycling was a question of fulfilling their
duty as a citizen, or a way of soothing a conscience that was troubling
them because of wasteful habits (3).
The opinions did not differ enormously between the people interviewed
in Kauhava and Tampere. However, there was slight variation in three
aspects:
- The people who regarded recycling as "easy" were all from Tampere.
- Recycling had mostly become a habit for
people from Tampere, as only two persons from Kauhava mentioned it as the
reason for their recycling.
- The people who considered recycling "a wise
thing to do" were, with two exceptions, from Kauhava.
A larger city such as Tampere has a greater need for efficient waste
management than a small rural community like Kauhava, because of the sheer
amount of waste that is produced every day and the lack of places to store
it in a densely populated area. Due to its special needs, Tampere has had
a longer history of organising recycling facilities, and people have had
the opportunity of doing it for a longer time than the people in Kauhava.
These might be the reasons why people find it easier to recycle in Tampere
and why recycling has become a common habit. In Kauhava, the need for
recycling is not so great and recycling is not so common yet. As a result,
recycling is seen more as a moral issue rather than a necessary everyday
habit. This could be why the moral aspect was predominant in the answers
from Kauhava.
Why Do People Not Recycle, According to the Questionnaire?
The question “Why do you not recycle?” is as important as
its opposite, as it reveals both deficiencies in the recycling system and
more personal factors behind why people may not have started recycling.
The answers to this question were not as uniform as to the previous one;
the opinions were distributed more evenly among the various alternatives.
Reasons connected to a lack of information were mentioned a number of
times. Many people did not know where the collection points were or what
materials could be taken there, or what they could recycle in the first
place even if they wanted to (6).
Reasons connected to deficiencies in the recycling system were very
common. Either the collection point for recyclable materials was situated
too far away (4 mentions), or there was no collection point for certain
materials (5). The former was considered more of a problem in Tampere, as
only one person from Kauhava mentioned it. The latter, on the other hand,
was typical of the answers from Kauhava.
Some people said that they had not started recycling because it was
difficult to store the recyclable materials for a long time (3). Bio-waste
may start to smell in an improper container, and a milk carton will
attract banana flies if it has not been washed properly. Some people
simply do not have enough room in their kitchen for several different
containers — a problem which, according to one person, should be
attacked already in the design of Finnish kitchens. A number of people
also mentioned that the amount of certain recyclable materials (bio-waste,
metal, glass, for example) they produce is so small that it did not seem
rational to start separating them (3). However, all the previous factors can be associated with a lack of time or
energy — or rather, commitment — to do something concrete for
the environment, and thus recycling could actually be a simple question of willpower.
One person mentioned that recycling may also be expensive, at least in
Kauhava. In order to be able to recycle bio-waste, one has to buy a
compost bin, because bio-waste is not collected in the collection points.
Finally, two people claimed that it does not make any difference
whether one recycles or not. The efforts of one person seem useless, since
not everyone recycles anyway. On the other hand, one person turned this
point the other way around, and said that every person’s small and simple
efforts are meaningful because, when combined together, they can make a
real difference.
How Easy Is It to Recycle, and How Easily Is
Information Available?
The question about the ease of recycling has already partly been
answered. On the one hand, recycling is considered easy when the
collection points are situated close by and there is an effective system
in place for recycling (13 mentions). In addition, many people pointed out
that recycling is, indeed, only a question of commitment and willpower
rather than a question of it being difficult (6). On the other hand,
recycling is regarded as complicated or too demanding if the collection
points are far away or do not exist in the first place (9). Examples of
these situations could be found both in Tampere and in Kauhava.
The opinions varied considerably about whether it is easy to get
information about recycling or not. It was often the case that people
thought that the information would be easily available, for example
through the Internet, but that it was rather a question of having the time
and energy to start looking for the information. This was evident in one
person’s answers in particular: he said that it is easy to get
information, but at the same time he did not know where the nearest
collection point was.
In addition, people generally felt that the information was not hard to
get, but there could be more of it. Many people wanted to know more about
the advantages and the overall organisation of recycling (8 mentions).
Several concrete issues, such as the possibilities that exist for
recycling certain materials and the location of the eco-points, were not
clear to some people either (3). Moreover, two people said that they
themselves were not in need of more information, but that a campaign
promoting recycling for those who do not know about it could be useful.
An Effective Recycling System, But Still Room for Improvement
This paper has examined the Finnish recycling system through the
example of two municipalities. The people interviewed were mostly rather
highly educated. As one would expect of educated people, they had
constructive ideas on how to improve the recycling system. Despite their
backgrounds, however, many of the people interviewed did not know either
where to take their recyclable materials, or even what materials could be
recycled. The interview thus showed clearly that not enough work has been
done to inform people about recycling, if even highly-educated people do
not know such basic information.
All in all, recycling is well-organised in Finland. There is a
three-level system of collection points that accept almost any kind of
recyclable materials one wishes to separate from household waste. However,
larger cities offer better facilities for the recycling of certain
materials, such as carton packaging, which is clearly evident from the
difference between Kauhava and Tampere. As a result, the habits of people
as recyclers depend highly on the options available in the place where
they live.
Attitudes toward recycling have become more positive along with the
general increase of interest in environmental issues in Finland. But
attitudes and practises often do not match. People might think positively
about recycling and find it easy to get information, but nevertheless not
have not started recycling. There is also room for improvement among
information providers, as many people feel insufficiently informed about
recycling benefits and options. With better communication all waste
producers would be more conscious of both their responsibilities and the
options available to them to help promote a better environment.
Notes
1
This solution is, however, not a permanent one, as a new bio-gas power
plant will be built in Ilmajoki, close to the solid waste management
site, in the near future. (back)
2 The fees as of 10 December, 2004. (back)
3 The original questionnaire is not appended to the paper
because it was in Finnish; the questions in the text were translated into
English by the author. (back)
4
Unlike in some other countries, the Finnish landfill sites are mainly
used as dumping grounds; they are normally not re-used to create new
land for housing or other similar purposes. (back)
5 The titles of the Internet sources were translated by the author
to provide an identification of the sources for non-Finnish readers. (back)
Works Cited
Appendix: Tables of Answers to the Questionnaire
