Current

The recycling rate of household waste has increased in almost all municipal areas that have been monitored in the period 2016–2021 (some of the municipalities have been monitored from 2018–2021). The trend in the volume of household waste has fluctuated: during the monitoring period, about one-half of the municipal areas witnessed an increase in the household waste per capita and about half of the areas witnessed a decrease.

In Finland, a total of 78 million kilograms of food waste is estimated to be generated annually in food services, of which a total of 61 million kilograms is originally edible. In this CircBrief we will introduce an operating model to reduce food waste in food services.

The circular economy is part of the City of Lahti's strategy and procurement programme. In 2020, the city signed a framework contract for recycled furniture with three suppliers: OffiStore, Martela and Pa-Ri Materia. At the same time, a framework contract for new furniture is also in place.

The circular economy is one of the city's key projects, and since 2019, every school in the municipality has had a person responsible for circular economy issues. Circular economy curricula have also been developed for primary and secondary schools.