Registrations under the Waste Act and other supervision of waste management

A company that engages in professional waste collection activities must submit a notification of its collection activities to the environmental protection authority of the municipality in whose territory the collection site is located. The notification does not need to be submitted if the collection requires an environmental permit under the Environmental Protection Act or is approved as part of other activities subject to an environmental permit.

Professional collection refers to the collection of waste at reception points arranged by municipalities, producer organisations, distributors or other waste management service companies in order to transport the waste for further processing.

The notification can be submitted using a paper form. The form and instructions can be found at the suomi.fi service: Approval of waste collection activities in the waste management register (in Finnish)

The waste holder (company) must check that the collectors and drivers of the company’s waste have been approved, i.e. that the ELY Centre has entered the driver in the waste management register and that the approval also covers the transport of the waste in question. – In addition, it must be ensured that the recipient of the waste has a valid environmental permit issued by an authority.

In the case of shipment of certain waste, the transport documents accompanying the shipment must be prepared and, as a rule, electronically as of 1 January 2022. These waste types include:

• • hazardous waste;
  • POP wastes containing persistent organic pollutants (new requirement as of 1 January 2022);
  • precipitation and sealed tank sludges;
  • sludges from sand and degreasing wells;
  • construction and demolition waste; and
  • contaminated soils

Waste of different types and quality must be sorted and collected separately for recycling. Separately collected waste may no longer be landfilled or incinerated.

According to the new Waste Decree, a company had to organise separate collection of municipal waste at least as follows for each property located in a built-up area or a city plan or master plan in a service, tourism or workplace area:

• • biowaste other than garden or park waste, if at least ten (10) kilograms of it is generated per week;
  • plastic and paper and cardboard packaging waste, if at least five (5) kilograms of it is generated per week;
  • glass packaging waste if at least two (2) kilograms of it is generated per week;
  • metal packaging waste and other small-sized metal waste, if a total of at least two (2) kilograms is generated per week;
  • other than the plastic, paper, cardboard, glass and metal waste referred to in paragraphs 2−4, garden and park waste, textile waste and large disposable items where possible.

The separate collection obligations do not apply to the smallest companies or activities. A company may organise separate collections jointly between the waste holders in the same property or if the company is located in a housing company or a property company.

Each company must be aware of the quantity and quality of the waste it produces and arrange waste management for its waste. Waste must be prevented and different types of waste must be recycled or otherwise handled in accordance with regulations. One of the objectives of the reform of the Waste Act 2021 is to sort and collect different types of waste more frequently.

On the Materials Market (Materiaalitori), held by Motiva Oy on behalf of the state, companies can look for waste management service providers, waste management operators can look for new customers and the authorities can ensure that everything goes in accordance with the Waste Act.

Within the scope of its industry and operations, the company must comply with the accounting, reporting and notification obligations in accordance with its environmental permit or the Wast Act.

More information: Waste Act – Ministry of the Environment (in Finnish)