 | The metal packaging recovery organization, Mepak-Kierrätys Oy, was founded in October
1997 and registered with the authorities in February 1998. |
| Typical metal packaging includes food cans, paint pails, drums, crown caps, closures,
aluminium trays, aerosols, steel bands and straps. Suomen Palautuspakkaus Oy stands for
deposit
based beverage cans. |
| The shareholders are metal packaging manufacturers, the packing industry and
retail-wholesale trade organizations in Finland, amounting to 12 shareholders in all. |
| The main task is to organize recycling and
recovery of metal packaging waste in
Finland to reach the targets of the EU packaging directive. |
| Mepak coordinates the collection of metal packaging and carries out different kinds of
studies and research to find out the best possible solutions for the recovery of packaging
in Finland. |
| Mepak is responsible for giving information and compiling statistics in conjunction with
the Environmental Register of Packaging PYR Ltd. |
| Mepak has the legal right to collect a recycling fee from the packing industry and
importers of packed goods. |
| The fee for metal packages in the year 2012 is
€ 24 per 1000 kg + VAT for tinplate and
aluminium packages and
€ 5 per 1000 kg + VAT for steel packages such as drums and steel
bands. |
| Mepak has made a contract with Kuusakoski Oy (the biggest scrap company in
Finland), Stena Recycling Oy,
Kajaanin Romu Oy and Eurajoen Romu Oy to ensure the reuse of the tinplate scrap. The registered supplier will get a
compensation for tinplate and aluminium packages delivered to
plants or
collection centers (10 €/tn). |
| Mepak has also made a contract with the biggest waste
collector in Finland Lassila&Tikanoja Oyj to improve the collection of metal
packages. |
| Packages made of tinplate must be crushed before being despatched to melting plants
abroad. Pure steel packaging can be sold directly to scrap firms. Steel drums are reused
after reconditioning in special plants. Steel packages can be sorted by magnetic
extraction and also aluminium packages mechanically. |
| By using recycled steel the saving in energy is 75 - 95 % compared to virgin raw
material. Each steel can contains more than 25 % recycled metal. |
