Towards Osaka Blue Ocean Vision - G20 Implementation Framework for Actions on Marine Plastic Litter

Finland

Actions and Progress on Marine Plastic Litter
Last Update : 2021/08/13

Policy framework

National Action Plan

Reduce and Refuse, Recycle and Replace – A Plastics Roadmap to Finland

a) The National Waste Plan From Recycling to a Circular Economy National Waste Plan to 2023

b) The Strategic Programme to Promote a Circular Economy

c) Finnish Marine Strategy

d) EU and HELCOM Action Plans to be nationally implemented

– Brief description:

a) The roadmap points out the first steps towards a new, sustainable plastic economy. The Plastics Roadmap identifies measures used to reduce the harm caused by plastic waste and litter, help consumers deliver plastics to waste management, improve the efficiency of plastics recovery, recycling and product design, creating conditions for investments and innovations in the circular economy, and reducing the dependency on fossil raw ingredients by increasing bio-based and biodegradable solutions. https://muovitiekartta.fi/in-brief/

b) The plan from Recycling to a Circular Economy (2018) sets out the objectives for waste management and waste prevention and the measures to reach the objectives. Detailed targets are set and measures presented for four key areas: construction and demolition waste, biodegradable waste, municipal waste, and waste electrical and electronic equipment.

c) The Strategic Programme to Promote a Circular Economy (2021) sets out objectives for the use of natural resources and measures through which society based on a carbon-neutral circular economy will provide a sustainable foundation for our economy in 2035. The renewal of waste laws is included into the strategy.

d) Finnish Marine Strategy includes a Monitoring Programme (2020 – 2026), Programme of Measures (2016-2021). They are based on a regularly updated status assessment of the Finnish marine environment (last update 2018) with targets that guide towards good environmental status, GES (last update for years 2018 – 2024). Marine litter is one of the eleven descriptors of good environmental status that are in the focus of the work.

e) i. Communication from the European Commission to the European Parliament, A new Circular Economy Action Plan for a cleaner and more competitive Europe (COM(2020) 98 final),

ii. Closing the loop- An EU action plan for the Circular Economy, CEAP (14972/15),

iii. A European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy (5477/18)

iv. Regional Sea Convention level work: HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan and Marine Litter Action Plan (both are to be updated in 2021).

Legal framework

Finnish Waste Act

a) The Land Use and Building Act, Flood Risk Management Act and Water Services Act

b) The Environmental Protection Act

c) EU Waste directives

d) EU Single-use Plastics Directive

e) EU Directive on Port Reception Facilities

f) EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive

g) HELCOM Recommendation 28E/10

h) HELCOM Recommendation 22/3

– Brief description:

a) According to the Finnish Waste Act littering is forbidden. The Act and its decrees regulate e.g. the responsibilities of different actors involved in waste management, set the prerequisites for recycling and sanctions for littering and include regulation regarding information sharing and communications.

b) The Land Use and Building Act, Flood Risk Management Act and Water Services Act include regulations regarding flood management, wastewater management and the management of urban runoff to reduce marine plastic litter and microplastics in the environment.

c) The Environmental Protection Act regulates economic activities and businesses producing litter. It sets the framework conditions for issuing environmental permits, which include regulations regarding e.g. wastewater treatment.

d) The EU Waste directives were renewed in 2020. The delayed national waste laws were enacted in June 23 2021, and they are expected to be ratified in July 15 2021. The laws are expected to enter into force later in July or August 2021.

e) EU Single-use Plastics Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment) and the corresponding national legislation.

f) EU Directive on Port Reception Facilities (Directive (EU) 2019/883 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on port reception facilities for the delivery of waste from ships, amending Directive 2010/65/EU and repealing Directive 2000/59/EC) and the corresponding national legislation.

g) EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy) and Commission “decision on Good Environmental Status, GES” (Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 of 17 May 2017 laying down criteria and methodological standards on good environmental status of marine waters and specifications and standardised methods for monitoring and assessment, and repealing Decision 2010/477/EU) and the corresponding national legislation,

h) HELCOM Recommendation 28E/10: Application of the No-Special-Fee System to Ship-Generated Wastes and Marine Litter Caught in Fishing Nets in the Baltic Sea Area,

i) HELCOM Recommendation 22/3: Unified Interpretations to Ensure a Harmonized and Effective Implementation of the Strategy for Port Reception Facilities for Ship-Generated Wastes and Associated Issues.

In addition, ongoing development of EU policy (changes to REACH decree) to limit intentionally added microplastics in products which is foreseen to enter into force in 2022.

Indicators

a) Environmental targets of the Finnish Marine Strategy (2018 – 2024) concerning marine litter, with indicators addressed to each target:

i. Reception of waste is efficient and user-friendly in all ports

ii. The number of cigarette butts on Finnish urban beaches is reduced significantly (by 2024)

iii. Urban waste water treatment facilities remove a very significant portion of microplastics

iv. Quantity of plastics in the marine environment decreases 30 % (by 2024) from the 2015 level

b) EU level thresholds for good environmental status related to marine litter under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and Commission Decision on GES are under development. For beach litter the threshold for GES has been set at 20 items per 100 meters of beach.

c) 21 annually updated quantitative indicators for follow-up the implementation of the National Waste Plan to 2023, e.g. quantities of waste in different sectors, recycling rate of packaging waste, etc.

Measures

Measures

Achievements

Prevention and reduction of plastic waste generation

Charge for single-use plastic products (e.g. shopping bags, straws)

Targeted products for A Green Deal on actions to restrict the use of plastic carrier bags are:

– Plastic carrier bags

a) Targeted products for EU Single-use Plastics Directive are:

– Certain plastic products

Targeted products:

a) Plastic carrier bags

b) Certain plastic products

Brief description:

(a) A Green Deal on actions to restrict the use of plastic carrier bags between the MoE and the Finnish Commerce Federation to implement the ‘Plastic Bags Directive’ (2016). The aim is that by 2025 only 40 plastic carrier bags per person per year would be used.

(b) EU Single-use Plastics Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment) which is directly applicable legislation in all EU Member States (incl. Finland).

(a) The Green Deal on plastic carried bags has resulted in shops putting a price on plastic carrier bags, enhancing the use of multi-use bags and informing about the need to restrict the use of bags.

(b) Good collaboration within EU on marine litter, including marine litter monitoring, and development of the Single-Use Plastics Directive based on the data on most commonly found plastic litter objects on beaches collected due to the marine monitoring obligations of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Actions for encouraging sustainable / circular product design

National Plastics Roadmap (2018)

a) National Waste Plan to 2023 – from Recycling to a Circular Economy (2018)

Brief description:

a) National Plastics Roadmap (2018) identifies measures used to reduce the harm caused by plastic waste and litter, help consumers deliver plastics to waste management, improve the efficiency of plastics recovery, recycling and product design, creating conditions for investments and innovations in the circular economy, and reducing the dependency on fossil raw ingredients by increasing bio-based and biodegradable solutions

b) National Waste Plan to 2023 – from Recycling to a Circular Economy (2018) sets out the objectives for waste management and waste prevention and the measures to reach the objectives.Detailed targets are set and measures presented for four key areas: construction and demolition waste, biodegradable waste, municipal waste, and waste electrical and electronic equipment.

(a) A broad network of various types of actors was set up by the Ministry of the Environment for the implementation of the Plastics Roadmap. Various types of activities and a number of reports, e.g. on degradation of biopolymers (biobased plastics) in the Baltic Sea, have been published.

(b) Progress in implementation of the National Waste Plan to 2023 (cf. indicators). Start of the updating of the plan that is to be done during 2020. The renewed Waste Framework Directive as well as the Directive on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment require new content to the National Waste Plan. The notion in the Government Programme ” We will create a vision for the waste management sector that supports recycling and circular economy targets and that extends into the 2030s. Our goal is to increase the recycling rate to at least the level of the EU’s recycling targets .” will also be implemented.

(c) Finland joined the European Plastics Pact.

Regulation on microplastics

a) Ongoing development of EU policy (changes to REACH decree) to limit intentionally added microplastics.

Brief description:

a) Please see more on European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) web page:
https://echa.europa.eu/fi/hot-topics/microplastics .

Restriction not yet adopted.

Measures

Achievements

Environmentally sound waste management

Enforcement of proper waste management system

Implementation of the EU waste directive (EU 2018/851)

Brief description:

a) EU waste directive (EU 2018/851) is directly applicable legislation in all EU Member States (incl. Finland). See the previous chapter for National Waste Plan to 2024 and the National Plastics Roadmap which contain activities related to waste management.

We see a positive improvement from last two years

The national waste plan will stimulate the recycling of plastics in different ways.

  

Prevention of littering, illegal dumping and unintentional leakage of waste into the ocean

a) Test trapping of litter

Brief description:

b) Project work has been carried out to test trapping of litter in river water draining to the Baltic Sea.

In 2020, publication of a report of possible location, amount and effects of ghost nets was carried out for marine waters in Finland.

Measures

Achievements

Cleanup of marine plastic litter

Collection of scattered waste on beach

(a) Beach clean-up campaigns

Brief description:

(a)Beach clean-up campaigns as part of national monitoring of beach litter and as voluntary organized activities by NGOs. Activities to improve knowledge on marine litter. In particular, the campaigns called Siisti biitsi organised by an NGO Pidä Saaristo Siistinä https://www.sistibiitsi.fi/

We see a positive improvement from last two years

Removal of plastic litter from the ocean

Fishing for litter Brief description: Fishermen are encouraged to collect litter at sea and are allowed to bring it to collection facilities at ports cost free.

We do not see any particular trend

Measures

Achievements

Promotion of innovative solutions

Policy actions for encouraging plastic alternatives (e.g. biodegradable plastics, circular product design – including use of recycled materials or closed loop recycling and so on’)

a) Plastics Roadmap for Finland

Brief description:

a) One of the ten themes of Plastics Roadmap for Finland is “Invest in a big way in alternative solutions and set up a New Plastics knowledge network” which promotes innovative solutions.

(a)The Government funds innovation and piloting of waste collection and recycling solutions worth 1 million euro started in September 2020. Plastics use of construction sector has been the focus of a series of workshops and a GreenDeal between the ministry and relevant construction sector actors was completed in 2021. The MoE has released a tender for applications for development projects that relate to recycling, alternative materials and innovation on the use of plastics in construction sector.

Public-private partnerships for creating and implementing innovative solution

a) Plastics Roadmap for Finland

Brief description:

a) One of the ten themes of Plastics Roadmap for Finland is “Invest in a big way in alternative solutions and set up a New Plastics knowledge network” which promotes innovative solutions.

We see a positive improvement from last two years

(a)The Government funds innovation and piloting of waste collection and recycling solutions worth 1 million euro started in September 2020. Plastics use of construction sector has been the focus of a series of workshops and a GreenDeal between the ministry and relevant construction sector actors in under negotiation. The MoE has released a tender for applications for development projects that relate to recycling, alternative materials and innovation on the use of plastics in construction sector.

Measures

Achievements

Education and awareness raising

Education system for encouraging public awareness on MPL issues

a) The Strategic Programme to Promote a Circular Economy recognizes the importance of education and training. The circular economy awareness will be built on from early childhood education onwards. Circular economy education is to be implemented to high school national curriculum in 2021.

  

Awareness raising campaigns related to MPL

National level:

a) The Plastics Roadmap for Finland – Reduce and Refuse, Recycle and Replace

b) A voluntary Green Deal

c) Information and knowledge spreading by NGO Pidä Saaristo Siistinä https://www.pidasaaristosiistina.fi/ymparistotietoa/roskaantuminen

Brief description:

b) A voluntary Green Deal to reduce the use of plastic carries bags was made between the Ministry of the Environment and the Finnish Chamber of Commerce in 2016. The aim is to make sure that Finland reaches the reduction targets for the consumption of plastic carrier bags in the EU Directive on packaging and packaging waste. The aim is that by the end of 2025 no more than 40 bags per person per year are used. Over 3500 stores are within the scope of the agreement. A key means in the Green Deal has been putting a price on plastic bags and reducing their availability for example at the cash register. The Ministry of the Environment evaluates progress towards the goal to ensure that the aims of the Green Deal are met.

c) As above

National level:

(a)Finland’s Plastic Roadmap was developed in a working group involving ministries, research institution, sector organisations, businesses, NGOs, active citizen and was supported by a secretariat composed of experts. Ideas for the Roadmap were collected through open web sites and seminars. Currently, the implementation of the Roadmap is followed-up by a cooperation network consisting of various types of actors. In addition, a citizens’ Plastics Council has been established to support the implementation of the Roadmap and the MoE has organised Plastics Forum events involving actors dealing with plastics. Please see more: https://muovitiekartta.fi/in-brief/

(b)The number of businesses committing to the voluntary Green Deal between the Ministry of the Environment and the Finnish Chamber of Commerce to reduce the use of plastic bags continues to grow. The number of plastic bags used (sold) has diminished.

Measures

Achievements

Monitoring & Scientific research on marine plastic litter

Actions for encouraging monitoring / scientific research on plastic flows and ocean surface microplastics

a) Plastics roadmap for Finland

b) Finland’s Marine Strategy

Brief description:

(a)R&D is largely covered by the Plastics Roadmap for Finland (theme “Enhance research knowledge on negative health and environmental impacts of plastics and solutions to these) and;

Marine monitoring and its development is part of Finland’s Marine Strategy. Monitoring of marine litter and microplastics is included in a separate subprogramme of the Finnish Marine Strategy https://www.ymparisto.fi/en-US/Sea/Finlands_marine_strategy/Finlands_Marine_Strategy(27019)

(a) A New Plastics Center was established as part of the implementation of the Plastics Roadmap by industry actors. The Center will promote innovation in biobased materials and start a funding programme to promote R&D, new business models and use of new materials.

(b)Ongoing beach litter monitoring since 2012 in about 15 different locations in Finland several times per year. Publication of the updated marine monitoring programme for years 2020-2026 which includes now also a new sub-programme for monitoring of marine litter and microplastics with a detailed description of methods.

(c) The number of scientists and knowledge related to marine litter has increased significantly in Finland during the recent years and contribute to the management of the problem.

(d) A broad general survey of sources and pathways of marine litter and microplastics in Finland and a roadmap towards the targets was released in early 2020 and they provide a good overview of the sources and pathways and will allow designation of further measures to be included in programme of measures of 2022-2027.

As an overarching achievement, development of a Plastics Roadmap for Finland with involvement across sectors, including industry and civil society organisations, and with active implementation ongoing.

Engagement in international/regional level actions for encouraging monitoring / scientific research on plastic flows and ocean surface microplastics

a) Cooperation with UNEA, HELCOM, the EU, Nordic countries, Group of Friends to Combat Marine Plastic Pollution (New York/Nairobi) .

Brief description:

a) Finland was participating to the UNEA member states discussions on marine litter and microplastics that come to an end in 2020. Currently, the member states are discussing/preparing for the second segment of UNEA5- meeting that will be held in February 2022. Finland is also actively participating to the HELCOM and Nordic cooperation on the matter and a member of the Group of Friends to Combat Marine Plastic Pollution established in June 2020 in New York. HELCOM coordinates marine monitoring of Baltic Sea states and develops joint monitoring also on marine litter. Cooperation within the EU on marine plastic litter and microplastics is active both under several for a, including the Marine Strategy.

a) Since the Nordic Environment Ministers expressed support for a global plastic agreement in 2019, Finland, together with other Nordic Countries have actively supported the the international efforts to find a global governance solution to the marine litter and microplastics challenge and advocated for a global plastic agreement.

b) Finland is a member of the European Plastics Pact.

Challenges

Data collection related to marine plastic litter:

– Development of monitoring methods for microplastics in the sea and methods for assessing inputs of microplastics from various sources could have been developed in a faster pace.

Project delays due to COVID-19

Others (Please specify here:

– The impacts of COVID19 on the objectives on reducing marine litter and microplastics is yet unknown but it is likely that the use of single-use plastics has increased in certain domains, e.g. face-masks, carry-on food, possibly medical sector. This needs attention in the recovery phase)

Best practices

National level

(a) Plastics Roadmap for Finland is a good example of a cross-sectorial programme for restricting loss of plastics to the environment, involving the industry as well as the civil society. The Finnish Marine Strategy with the Programme of Measures targeting also marine litter and microplastics is a good example of a programme with specific targets and focused measures for the marine environment and complementing the Plastics Roadmap, as well as coordination with other countries activities under the Regional Sea organization.

(b) Broad activities on data and knowledge gathering to form a firm basis for decisions. In our case that encompasses scientific research, monitoring method development and monitoring of both macro litter and microplastics, as well as producing an assessment of most important sources and pathways of plastic litter to the sea.

(c) Good collaboration across administrative boundaries and broad involvement of stakeholders in updating the programme of measures for marine litter and microplastics.

(d) Adaptation of activities according to new information, i.e. “learning by doing”.

Contact details

Merja Saarnilehto, merja.saarnilehto@ym.fi (Plastics)

Maria Laamanen, maria.laamanen@ym.fi (Marine environment)

Taru Savolainen, taru.savolainen@ym.fi (G20 coordination)

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