FINLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Kari Marttinen, Laura Leino, Outi Iso-Markku and Tuuli Pohjonen, Erottaja Attorneys Ltd
Advancing the circular economy through regulation The Finnish government aims to modernise waste legislation to support the current and future circular economy, as well as to better respond to business- driven innovations. Waste legislation is planned to be developed more towards the notion of a circular econ- omy, incorporating new procedures for end-of-waste and by-product classification, implementing EU direc- tives and assessing waste legislation more broadly as a whole with regard to circular economy principles. Introducing the Circular Economy Act As part of the green transition and Finland’s shift toward a circular economy, the Ministry of the Envi- ronment is proposing to replace the current Waste Act with a new Circular Economy Act. At the time of writing, the draft legislative proposal is expected to be published in early 2026. The new Act is expected to: • regulate the entire lifecycle of products to support circular economy practices; • encourage the use of secondary raw materials over virgin materials, with clear assessment criteria; • reduce regulatory burden and clarify waste-related provisions; and • establish a predictable and reliable framework to attract circular economy investments. Accelerating innovation through end-of-waste regulatory updates Decisions on end-of-waste (EoW) status can be made for specific waste types either through EU-harmonised regulations or nationally with government decrees or case-by-case decisions. The EU has established crite- ria for certain specific waste types to determine when they cease to be classified as waste. Two national decrees have also been issued regarding the EoW cri- teria – for crushed concrete in 2022 and mechanically recycled plastics in 2024. In addition, a draft decree regarding the EoW criteria on recycled oil produced from plastic waste is planned to be published in 2026. Currently, if no EU or national regulations exist for a specific type of waste and its EoW criteria, the evalu- ation of EoW status is executed with a case-by-case evaluation in environmental permitting process or through a statement issued by the supervising author-
turbines in the regional plan, the minimum distance must be eight times the total height of the wind turbine between a turbine and existing residential buildings. This applies also to building sites either with a valid building permit or designated in an approved master or local detailed plan. Exceptions to the minimum dis- tance requirement for wind turbines could be allowed with the consent of local landowners. These proposed changes are currently under heavy political debate, particularly because they would impose substantial new barriers to wind power development as there are currently no fixed minimum distances applied in wind farm projects. Currently, permitting and land use planning require- ments for solar power plants vary across municipali- ties and authorities, leading to inconsistencies in how projects are handled. The new legislative proposal aims to harmonise these practices. Under the pro- posed Land Use Act, the construction of solar power plants with a minimum size of ten hectares would always require either a solar power master plan or a local detailed plan. A new chapter is proposed to be added to the Land Use Act specifically addressing solar power construc- tion. According to the draft legislative proposal, a mas- ter plan could serve directly as the basis for granting a building permit for a solar power plant, provided that the plan explicitly allows for it. When drafting a master plan for solar power, specific content requirements must be met. These include prohibiting construction on undrained natural wetlands and extensive forested areas, ensuring feasible grid connections, and provid- ing sufficient guidance for construction and land use in the area. The proposed change would increase the number of solar power plants requiring land use planning, poten- tially extending project timelines and raising project development costs. However, the construction of larg- er solar power plants could become more efficient, as they would, in most cases, be permitted on the basis of master plans rather than local detailed plans.
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