K-food stores, K-Rauta stores and Onninen stores generate plastic packaging waste every day from the shipping and shelving of goods, for example. Thanks to the revised Finnish Waste Act, K Group was able to start separate collection of plastic packaging in its stores and other premises in 2023.
Plastic packaging is now collected from over 300 business locations that have signed K Group’s circular economy agreement. Separate collection was started at the largest locations, which produce the most waste. The majority of K-Citymarkets already collect plastic packaging separately from other waste. Last year, a record total of 545 tonnes of plastic packaging was collected within K Group.
“The separate collection of plastic packaging has raised K Group’s high-quality waste management to a new level. About a fifth of store-generated waste is energy and mixed waste, a significant proportion of which has consisted of plastic packaging. Previously, it was incinerated, but with separate collection, the plastic packaging can be recycled,” says Noomi Jägerhorn, Vice President of Sustainability at Kesko.
Plastic recycling requires action from everyone
The EU’s target recycling rate for plastic packaging is 50 per cent, whereas in Finland only about a third of the packaging is recycled. Improving the recycling rate requires action from the entire value chain, including packaging manufacturers, companies, the public sector and consumers.
Marko Turunen, Operations Director of Finnish Packaging Recycling RINKI Ltd says Kesko’s solution is very welcome, as industrial packaging contains a significant amount of plastic. He also says that businesses and the public sector generate a lot of other plastic packaging waste every day, in addition to actual industrial packaging.
“Workplaces, hospitals, schools, restaurants and cafés use plenty of plastic packaging that is meant for consumers, which should also be sorted carefully and appropriately. In addition, households play a vital role in plastic recycling.”
Circular economy brings cost savings
From an environmental perspective, it is essential that materials are recovered and reused. For stores, sorting plastic packaging separately also saves costs because when it is sorted as energy or mixed waste it is subject to a waste management fee. To date, the separate collection of plastic packaging has saved K Group more than EUR 100,000. In the near future, the savings are expected to grow as the costs of waste sent to incineration rise compared to recyclable materials and as collection in K-stores expands.
“The separate collection of plastic packaging is a good example of how sustainability work can also be economically sensible. It is not sustainable that usable plastic still ends up being incinerated while we simultaneously pay tens of millions to the EU. This is why it is so important for companies, the public sector and consumers all to join in the effort,” says Jägerhorn.
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