Monday, June 11, 2007

Recycling in Helsinki

In Helsinki, you separate out your food waste from your other kinds of waste, and are recycled at your home. Paper and cardboard (including milk cartons) are both collected in bins at each apartment. Clear and green glass and metal cans are recycled at public collection points. Most brown glass, soda bottles (which are hard plastic and reusable), and aluminum cans are returned at the store for deposit. 1.5-liter bottles go for 40 euro cents; 20 oz (250 ml) soda bottles are 20 euro cents. Aluminum cans are 15 euro cents.

One thing that isn't recycled as far as I know is plastic containers. These and the juice containers that are not recyclable (mixed carton and plastic) comprise most of my trash, which seems to be much more than I would generate in Oklahoma.

2 Comments:

At 5:56 PM, Blogger Ex-Expats said...

Are you sure your juice cartons are not recyclable ? Look for the symbol of three arrows. Those which have a plastic tap (Tropicana etc.), go there well, even if aluminium coated from inside; the recycling company knows how to separate these materials.

 
At 11:14 AM, Blogger Angie said...

Seattle is great for recycling. We have curbside pickup of allllll kinds of things, including your juice boxes, and we compost our food and other wet things into the yard waste (also picked up curbside). Today I got something in the mail about how it's actually illegal to put things in the garbage that are recyclable, and if they find too many recyclable things, they leave your trash and fine you $50. Ha!

 

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