Government Decree on separate collection and material recovery of returnable paper (No. 270 of 2023).

The present Government Decree contains provisions on the obligation for producers of paper products, as referred to in Section 48, Paragraph 1, Item 5 of the Waste Act (646/2011), to organize separate collection and material recycling of discarded paper products (recovered paper). Paper products refer to newspapers, magazines, direct mail, telephone directories, mail-order catalogs, envelopes, office paper, and other comparable paper products, but not books. Producers of paper products are collectively responsible for ensuring that at least 85% by weight of the paper products they place on the market is material-recovered each year. Producers shall establish or support a network of collection points for the separate collection of returnable paper. They shall monitor and report on the amount of returnable paper collected and material-recovered. This data is used to track progress towards targets and identify areas for improvement.