Promoting Circular Economy

We are committed to reducing material use, reusing and recycling materials whenever possible, and minimising waste in our operations. Our approach is based on recognised circular economy measures that aim to keep materials and products in circulation for as long as possible.

Packages recycles

Most of our packaging is recyclable or refillable. Olvi is one of the owners of Suomen Palautuspakkaus (Palpa). Palpa manages the deposit-based beverage packaging recycling system in Finland, where return rates are 100% for glass bottles and cans and over 90% for plastic bottles.

A large share of the transport packaging—such as pallets and trays —is already partially or fully reusable. We save around a million kilos of cardboard annually by using reusable plastic trays in transporting cans and bottles.

Packaging material matters

We reduce material use and increase the share of recycled materials in different packaging types by optimising packaging and the product portfolio. We reduce the amount of plastic by switching to lighter bottles and plastic films whenever possible. For example, we use short-neck plastic bottles, which save more than 500,000 kg of plastic annually at group level. In addition, we are gradually moving towards the use of recycled or bio-based plastic in both bottles and other packaging. Some plastic bottles are already made from recycled plastic. Thanks to can development by suppliers, the amount of aluminium used in our beverage cans has decreased significantly over the past ten years.

Sorting and reuse

We aim to increase the recycling of material fractions and side streams generated in the production process and to further develop sorting practices.

Each company collects and sorts different materials such as metal, cardboard, glass, plastic, and hazardous substances.

By-products from production, such as spent grain and surplus yeast, are delivered as feed to livestock farms or, for example, for biogas production. We continuously explore other possibilities for reusing spent grain and surplus yeast. We also want to increase the beneficial use of our wastewater, including for biogas production or heat recovery.

Page updated 21.9.2026