In Riihimäki, the amount of waste has decreased and the recycling rate has improved

The Finnish Environmental Center SYKE has published new regional information on household waste amounts and recycling rates. The development in the Riihimäki region is positive: the amount of waste has decreased and the recycling rate has increased. According to the latest data, the amount of waste in the Riihimäki region in 2021 was 303 kilograms per inhabitant, while at its highest during the monitoring period it was 364 kilograms per inhabitant in 2018.

The recycling rate in the Riihimäki region has increased from 2016 to 2021 at the pace required by the EU goals, i.e. about five percentage points over five years. According to the latest information, the recycling rate in the Riihimäki region is 42 percent. The positive development has been influenced by, for example, the expansion of separate collection and the improvement of sorting possibilities, as well as the decrease in the amount of mixed waste. The more detailed monitoring of waste information has also possibly affected the results.

The national municipal waste recycling rate has remained at the same level for a long time. About half of municipal waste is produced in households. In 2021, the municipal waste recycling rate in Finland was 37 percent. The goal of the European Union and Finland is to raise the recycling rate to 2025 percent by 55, 2030 percent by 60, and 2035 percent by 65.

Reducing the amount of waste is an important national goal. According to Statistics Finland's statistics, the amount of municipal waste in 2021 has settled at the level of 2020, but has previously been growing fairly steadily since 2010.

Monitoring data on the amount of household waste and the recycling rate were calculated for 10 municipalities, which are Forssa, Hyvinkää, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Porvoo, Riihimäki and Turku. In addition, the information from the Helsinki region's environmental services HSY produced by its own calculation model from the capital region is included. The municipalities involved in the survey are committed to promoting the circular economy as part of the pioneer municipalities of the Circwaste–Kohti circular economy project or the Fisu network (Finnish sustainable communities). Municipal region means the entire area where the waste facilities of the municipalities in question are responsible for waste management.

Read more about household waste monitoring and familiarize yourself with the regional results Materials on the Kiertoon website.