SustainaCycle workshop Summary: Driving Awareness to Boost Recycling

On 19 February 2026, the SustainaCycle project organised an interactive hybrid workshop in Lappeenranta, Finland, focusing on how communication and awareness-raising can improve recycling rates.

The workshop brought together participants from Finland, Sweden, Estonia, and Latvia, both on-site and online. The cross-border setting created a valuable platform for sharing national experiences, practical examples, and lessons learned. Participants discussed what works in recycling communication, what does not, and how to better support long-term behaviour change.

Key discussion themes included:

Root causes for low recycling rates
From a consumer perspective, participants explored why people may choose not to recycle. Common barriers identified included lack of convenience, unclear instructions, low trust in the system, and limited understanding of the impact of recycling.

Using collaboration to improve communication
The groups discussed how partnerships between municipalities, companies, NGOs, and educational institutions can strengthen recycling communication. Local cooperation and shared messaging were seen as important success factors.

Country perspectives and practical experience
Participants shared examples of communication strategies that have worked in their countries — such as clear legal requirements, incentive systems, simple visual messaging, and community-based approaches. They also reflected on challenges, including information overload and campaign fatigue.

Wild Card challenge
Before the workshop, participants were asked to bring a photo or screenshot of an innovative recycling communication example. In group work, they developed completely new ideas to encourage people to recycle, combining creativity with practical feasibility.

Keynote highlight

A key highlight of the day was the keynote presentation by Jenni Rahkonen, Environmental Coordinator from the City of Lahti, who introduced the case study of the “world first” textile deposit scheme piloted in Lahti. The presentation demonstrated how incentive-based systems can motivate citizens and make recycling more attractive and visible.

Jenni Rahkonen explained that after Lahti became the European Green Capital, the city focused strongly on increasing recycling rates, especially for textiles. Lahti launched a local textile deposit trial and a design competition. In the pilot, residents could return textile waste and receive vouchers for local services, such as coffee or swimming pool access. As a result, five times more textile waste was collected compared to previous levels. The design competition was won by an acoustic panel concept made from recycled textiles. The campaign received wide media attention across different channels, raised public awareness, and sparked public discussion about textile recycling. The campaign also gained international attention.

The workshop concluded with a presentation of group results and a discussion on how the insights can support future SustainaCycle communication activities.

Overall, the event strengthened cross-border cooperation and provided fresh inspiration on how to design communication that is clear, motivating, and impactful.