People in Finland are ordering increasing amounts of goods that are virtually impossible to reuse or recycle.
Aki Honkanen, project manager at Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto Oy, said the waste management company began seeing growing quantities of cheap Chinese clothing about a year ago.
"They are often unused. Some even still have price tags," he noted, saying they decided not to pass these textiles on for reuse.
"Yes, we know it doesn't make much sense that we have to send these items straight to the incinerator. The quality is so poor. The fibers can't be recycled because they are mixed."
Package rush
Finns' enthusiasm for buying goods from Chinese online stores shows no sign of slowing. In October, the head of Finnish Customs told Yle that authorities simply do not have the capacity to monitor the trade.
According to Customs, 28.2 million shipments arrived in Finland from outside the EU in 2024. Two years earlier, in 2022, the number was a mere 850,000.
Chinese online retail giants like Temu and Shein rapidly captured the attention of European consumers a few years ago.
Finnish authorities have taken notice. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment recently set up a working group to examine the problems associated with cheap imports. The concerns include weak consumer protections, environmental impact and the competitiveness of domestic online retailers.
The capital region's second-hand Kierrätyskeskus centre gets 17,000 kilos of clothing each week. About 100 kilos of that comes from Chinese discount retailer Shein.
While Miia Podworsky of Kierrätyskeskus described that quantity as relatively small, she pointed out that unused goods still represent a cost.
At the recycling centre, about one trolley of Shein clothing is sent directly to waste each week. None of it is put up for resale.
