The government plans to present a package of new laws on waste management to Parliament this autumn.
The proposal calls for the number of public waste collection sites to drop by as much as half. Meanwhile home-based recycling is to expand, bringing slightly higher costs for residents.
Every property with at least five homes will need to have its own receptacles for collecting cardboard, metal, glass and plastic at least.
If approved, the new rules will be phased in over the next three years.
The number of ‘Rinki eco-points’ outside stores and other public sites would like drop from the current 1,850 to around 1,000, if the legislation goes through in the form proposed by the Ministry of the Environment.
Tarja-Riitta Blauberg, a ministerial adviser at the ministry, says that number is just a "rough estimate," though.
“The number needed will have to be evaluated more precisely when it becomes clear what the exact stipulations will be on per-site residential collection,” Blauberg says.
More plastic collection sites
While the number of collection points for cardboard, glass and metal is set to drop, those for gathering waste plastic would rise significantly from the current 500-600.
Under the plan, a fee for collecting unsorted packaging waste would also be imposed to incentivise sorting.
Blauberg points out that packaging manufacturers would also be obliged to take part in collection costs, which would lower properties’ costs.
The cabinet aims to bring the legislative package before Parliament this autumn and for it to take effect next year. A two-year transition period is planned, so the new rules on neighbourhood and residential collection points would actually be implemented in 2023.