Circular material use rate

Finland’s circular material use rate is significantly lower than the EU average. The downward trend since 2012 is probably caused by changes in economic structures, including the decreased production of paper from recycled paper fibre. However, assessing the circular material use rate presents significant methodological challenges, and the economic structures of different countries greatly affect the comparability of results. Compared with other EU Member States, Finland has a higher domestic consumption of materials, largely due to the importance of the extractive industries and extensive infrastructure built across the sparsely populated country. In 2021, Finland’s circular material use rate was 4.4 % according to domestic calculations. This figure represents the proportion of recycled materials used in all materials consumed in production. It decreased slightly from the previous year. The highest rates are achieved with paper, metal and glass packaging waste, with over two thirds of waste recycled as materials. Finland’s strategic programme to promote a circular economy aims to reduce the consumption of non-renewable natural resources by 2035 and sustainably increase the use of renewable natural resources so that total domestic raw material consumption in 2035 does not exceed the level from 2015. Natural resources used in manufacturing export products are excluded from this target.