FTI
Sweden
FTI (Förpacknings- och Tidningsinsamlingen) is a company in the recycling industry that is responsible for ensuring that packaging and newspapers in Sweden are collected and recycled.
We are responsible for the 5 800 recycling stations around the country where people can leave their used packaging and newspapers. The collection system is financed inter alia by packaging fees paid by the producers that import, fill, package and sell the products.
Packing fees for packing of paper, plastic and metal are administered by FTI. Operations are conducted without profit and no economic dividends to the owners may be allowed under the company’s charter.
Our business is based on government regulations on producer responsibility for packaging and newspapers. The producer responsibility is a standard that has been created to develop an environmentally sustainable society for the future.
The visionary scenario is a circuit adapted society where most of what is currently regarded as waste will be useful as some kind of new resource. The principal method adopted by Parliament in 1993 for this work is to put environmental responsibility on the producer of a product. Producers shall be obliged to take care of the packaging even after the consumer end use.
Owners of FTI are the five materials companies Plastkretsen, MetallKretsen, Returkartong, Svensk GlasÅtervinning and Pressretur. There is also Svensk GlasÅtervinning with an agreed collaboration. The FTI’s and materials companies’ boards include representatives from the packaging and newspaper industry, commerce and trade associations.
Our head-office is in Stockholm, but some of our staff is also located in other parts of Sweden.
“Purchasing this ‘collection system service’ from us is simply a matter of companies complying with their statutory producer responsibility – to provide their own clients with a national collection system for packaging.” says Anette Löhnn, head of marketing at FTI.
FTI is a commercial service function whith the aim that affiliated companies will be able to more easily benefit from the goodwill generated by helping to finance a collection system that is highly appreciated by their clients. FTI is seen by the public at large as being supported by a considerable portion of the Swedish business community.
We always work for the best interests of companies with producer responsibility.
System Description
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The Swedish government introduced producer responsibility in 1994. It means that companies that place packaging on the market are also responsible for collecting the packaging for recycling. To meet this new requirement, the business community joined forces and formed materials companies, which subsequently formed the Packaging Collection Service (FTI).
How operations are financed
FTI is a not-for-profit operation. The activities are financed by packaging fees from producer responsibility companies, funds from the paper industry and revenue from sales of collected and sorted material.
Annual operating costs for the collection and recycling scheme are approximately SEK 1 billion. Some of the financings are derived from sales of collected and sorted material. The value of the collected materials covers some, but not all, of the costs. That is why producers are charged a packaging fee. The fee is weight-based, and varies for each type of material as well as for household or commercial packaging, depending on the economic impact of the material on the scheme.
FTI is a non-profit company. Any profit is therefore used to finance the operations. It is not permitted to distribute any profits. The aim is to achieve a zero balance over a business cycle.
Reference for operations
Operations are governed by the Ordinance on Producer Responsibility for Packaging. An ordinance is a law that has been adopted by the government. FTI helps companies comply with the ordinance which means, in simple terms, that we collect and send as much household packaging as possible for recycling.
In November 2021, the Swedish Ministry of the Environment drafted a memorandum “Improved packaging collection – new roles for municipalities and producers.” It is a proposal for a new ordinance on producer responsibility for packaging.
The Swedish Ministry of the Environment’s memorandum (in Swedish only)
The document contains a number of proposed changes to producer responsibility, including that municipalities assume the responsibility for collecting packaging. Producers would continue to finance this arrangement.
In February 2022, FTI submitted a response to the consultation document, where we provided feedback on the proposals that we support and those we consider less viable.
FTI’s response to the memorandum (in Swedish only)
In January 2022, waste paper was exempted from producer responsibility and the responsibility for waste paper collection was transferred to Swedish municipalities. In 90 % of the municipalities in Sweden, FTI provides space for the municipality’s waste paper collection at recycling stations, but the municipality is responsible for the collection. You should therefore contact your municipality if you have any views or questions about the waste paper collection.
Communication activities
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Circular Plastic Summit 2022
On the 2nd of May, Svensk Plaståtervinning, in collaboration with FTI, organized the Circular Plastic Summit where leading experts from Europe gathered for a seminar on circular recycling of flexible PP. See the lectures from the day here.
Svensk Plaståtervinning, in cooperation with Förpackningsinsamlingen, organized a day all about the potential for PP film recycling. Meet all actors in the value chain of creating Circular Recycling, with speakers from Europe who can give you the tools to make your flexible PP packaging circular. See the lectures from the day here.
Speakers
- Mattias Philipsson, Svensk Plaståtervinning
- Jörg Drägert, GRAF Holding GmbH and Dr. Dirk Textor, GRAF Holding GmbH
- Peter Niedersuess, Borealis Polyolefine GmbH (Linz)
- Fabrizio Di Gregorio, RecyClass
- Ansgar Schonlau, MAAG GmbH
- Karin Lindqvist (RISE)
- Hanna Unsbo (IVL)
Prevention
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The collection and recycling of packaging is financed by packaging fees. Every type of packaging should bear its own costs, and that’s why there are different fees for each type of material.
The costs for collecting and processing packaging from a small producer are the same as from a large producer. The fees are non-negotiable.
Fees for 2023
In 2021, FTI packaging collection hits a new all-time high – for the tenth consecutive year – and together with their owners (Returkartong, Svensk Plaståtervinning and Metallkretsen), FTI collected and recycled more packaging than ever. This is one of the reasons why FTI doesn’t need to raise the fees for paper, plastic and steel packaging for the coming year, and why the fees for aluminum will be lowered.
|
Item no.
|
Material
|
Fees SEK/kg
2022 |
Fees SEK/kg
2023 |
|
|
Household
packaging
|
310 | Paper (high) | 3,43 | 3,43 |
| 315 | Paper (low) | 2,24 | 2,24 | |
| 410 | Plastic (high) | 8,56 | 8,56 | |
| 415 | Plastic (low) | 5,52 | 5,52 | |
| 511 | Aluminium | 8,00 | 6,00 | |
| 512 | Steel plate | 4,20 | 4,20 | |
|
Commercial
packaging
|
320 | Paper | 0,01 | 0,01 |
| 420 | Plastic | 0,03 | 0,03 | |
| 521 | Aluminium | 0,01 | 0,01 | |
| 522 | Steel plate | 0,16 | 0,16 | |
|
Service
packaging
|
330 | Paper (high) | 2,75 | 2,75 |
| 335 | Paper (low) | 1,79 | 1,79 | |
| 430 | Plastic (high) | 6,85 | 6,85 | |
| 435 | Plastic (low) | 4,42 | 4,42 | |
| 531 | Aluminium | 6,40 | 4,80 |
Differentiated fees are driving progress
Differentiated fees mean that you pay a lower fee for packaging that is designed for recycling, compared with packaging that is difficult to recycle. The aim of differentiated packaging fees is to reflect the actual cost of recycling. In that way, the fees provide an incentive for producers to design packaging that is easier to recycle. We can help you design packaging that is more sustainable and easier to recycle.
Contact
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Förpacknings- och Tidningsinsamlingen (FTI)
Box 17033
S-104 62 Stockholm
(visiting address: Magnus Ladulåsgatan 63A, Stockholm)
SWEDEN
Phone: (+46) 8 566 144 0
Fax: (+46) 8 566 144 44
E-mail: repainfo@ftiab.se
Web: https://www.ftiab.se/1292.html/