The actual sorting campaign has now ended, but the work to make sorting more efficient continues!
Thanks to everyone who took part in the competitions, the winners will be drawn during June. The sorting game can still be played, but it is no longer possible to participate in the competition.
The actual sorting campaign has now ended, but the work to make sorting more efficient continues!
Thanks to everyone who took part in the competitions, the winners will be drawn during June.
Each resident of the metropolitan Helsinki area produces nearly 300 kilos of waste in a year. Waste that is sorted and recycled in homes can be reused as industrial raw material thus saving natural resources.
A waste power plants can utilise the energy contained in waste by using it to produce electricity and heat. On the other hand, when waste is burnt the raw material it contains is lost. If, for example, a milk carton ends up in mixed waste, it will be burnt in a waste power plant. The energy is utilised, but the wood fibre that is the raw material of the packaging disappears. When the milk carton is recycled, it can be used as raw material in a carton plant. This economises forest as fewer trees need to be felled.
In Finland, the recycling system works well. Carton and cardboard is used as raw material for cardboard packaging and casings, glass packaging is used for making new glass packaging, metals are utilised as raw material for the metal industry, biowaste is used to produce biogas and soil, reclaimed paper is used for recycled paper, packaging plastic for plastic bags, buckets and flowerpots.
Currently, in the metropolitan Helsinki area about 48 per cent of all municipal waste is sorted and recycled.
For some people recycling is part of their everyday life, some perceive sorting and recycling waste as difficult. Recycling is mostly a question of habit. If you try it for a few weeks, soon it will become a routine. See the waste guide on the HSY website for help. At home, you can start sorting little by little by first separating, for example, biowaste from other waste. Fruit and vegetable peels, coffee filters and food scraps, among other things, can be put in the biowaste bin. Biowaste is a good starting point, because currently only about one third of it is sorted and recycled and the rest is put into mixed waste. When biowaste is recycled, important nutrients and humus are returned to the soil.
Cleanliness is an important part of waste management. When waste is packaged according to the instructions and put into the correct collection bins, the waste sites stay clean. Acting correctly can also help avoid unpleasant rat issues. Biowaste is wrapped in newspaper or a biodegradable bag and milk and juice containers are rinsed and packaged tightly inside one another. Carton packaging should be flattened to take up less space, an upside-down cardboard box quickly fills the collection container
By sorting, each one of us invests in a sustainable future. Once the waste is sorted it will produce, for example, soil, plastic bags, glass jars, newspaper or bicycle frames.
Biowaste is bio-degrable organic waste. The HSY biowaste treatment plant at Ämmässuo screens the biowaste and directs most of it to be digested. This produces biogas which, in turn, is used to produce electricity and heat. The nutrient-dense digestate, the solid material produced in digestion is composted and processed to be utilised as soil.
Sorted newspapers and advertisements are transported to a paper mill via intermediate storage. Reclaimed paper is used as raw material especially for newspapers and catalogue paper.
From your refuse bin, carton ends up as raw material for a carton plant. At the plant, the cardboard fibre is separated from the plastic and aluminium coatings. Recycled carton is used, for example, as raw material for corrugated cardboard, carton packaging, envelopes and many kinds of casings.
Glass is taken to Ämmässuo and from there it is shipped to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In the processing facility the glass is cleaned and separated by colour. The ready raw material is used for producing new glass jars and bottles.
Metal waste ends up in the Pori crushing facility. Magnetic and non-magnetic metals are separated during crushing. The magnetic metals end up in Finnish steel mills or for export. Non-magnetic metals are taken to a recycling plant in Sweden, where they are separated further. Recycled metal is used to manufacture new metal packaging as well as other metal products, such as bicycle frames, shovels and car spare parts.
Plastic packaging is separated into different types of plastic and cleaned at the Riihimäki plastic refinery. Recycled plastic is used for producing flowerpots, storage containers, cleaning equipment and plastic bags, among other things. Non-recyclable material is burned for energy.
Mixed waste is the final waste that is left over when the residents have sorted all recyclable materials and hazardous substances. Mixed waste is burned in the Vantaa waste power plant producing electricity and district heating. Out of all waste that ends up the mixed waste bin, 76 per cent could be recycled.
Sorting waste can sometimes feel like a difficult task that takes a lot of time. For many, the placement of a recycling area in their home and the space it requires causes a lot of grey hairs. Use our tips to build a functional recycling area in your home.
Usually, the sorting area is located below the kitchen sink. However, in many older homes there are only two containers. You can buy 3–4 smaller containers, which require as much as space as the two larger ones. There are also dividers available for use with larger containers. These days, there are also small recycling-specific “hidden containers” that are handy to slip into a kitchen drawer. These can be used for smaller sortable waste such as used batteries and glass jars.
With little effort, you can utilise the space outside of your kitchen cupboards in a way that fits your decoration, too. You can, for example, put a row of beautiful lidded casks and pedal bins in your kitchen. You can mark the different waste types by painting or attaching a sign. You can also find handy recycling-specific containers that can be stacked.
Biowaste, plastics and mixed waste is created daily, so it is the easiest to handle sorting them in the kitchen. Newspapers and advertisements can be handily sorted in the hallway by using, for example, a basket with a lid. Often, there is enough space for glass and metal waste bins in the cupboards.
If none of the above feels like a good fit for you, you can find many handy and practical solutions and ideas online for taking care of all your recycling at home. Many furniture stores and online stores have invested in recycling-related solutions. There are many kinds of different lidded containers, casks, baskets and bags that can also match the decoration of your home.