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See all EU institutions and bodiesThe indicator shows the share of material recovered and fed back into the economy – and thus saving extraction of primary raw materials – in overall material use.
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.
References and footnotes
- a b cStatistics Finland, ‘Indicators for the circular economy’, Statistics Finland website, accessed 17 May 2025, https://stat.fi/tup/kiertotalous/kiertotalousliiketoiminnan-indikaattorit_en.html.
- ↵Syke, ‘Reducing use of natural resources can be coupled with strengthening the economy’, Syke Policy Brief – Sustainable solutions for environmental policy, Helsinki, 2024, http://hdl.handle.net/10138/575197.