Which Bin Does It Go In?
Search any household item in English or Finnish and see which Oulu bin it belongs in — with the Finnish word that is printed on the bin.
Type what you’re throwing out — it tells you which bag or cart it goes in.
Oulu's household waste is collected by Kiertokaari, and the bins, chutes and drop-off points are labelled in Finnish. Every item below carries the Finnish word for it, so you can search either language: type "yoghurt pot" or type the word printed on the lid. The answer names the Finnish bin label back to you, which is what you will be reading in the bin shed.
The streams
Food waste, peelings, coffee grounds, kitchen paper. You can wrap it in a bio bag, a newspaper or an ordinary plastic bag — the plastic is separated out before the waste goes to the biogas plant.
Rinsed drink and food cartons, cereal and biscuit boxes, egg cartons, paper bags, kitchen and toilet roll tubes, corrugated boxes. Empty, flattened, packed inside one another. Kiertokaari treats cardboard (pahvi) and paperboard (kartonki) as one household collection.
Anything the post brings: newspapers, magazines, advertising, catalogues, envelopes including window envelopes, printouts and copy paper. Paper has its own bin, separate from the carton one.
Empty plastic packaging only: pots, tubs, film, bags, bottles, tubes. This is a packaging collection, not a plastics collection — a plastic object that never held a product does not belong here.
Glass bottles and jars, including coloured ones. Break-away bands and labels can stay on. Deposit bottles are worth returning to a shop's reverse vending machine instead.
Anything more than half metal by weight: cans, lids, foil, pans, tools, cables, metal furniture, nails. Large metal objects go to a waste station free of charge.
The bin for what cannot be recycled. Kiertokaari's own pages also call it poltettava jäte or polttokelpoinen jäte; on a bin label in Oulu you will usually see sekajäte.
Anything with a plug, a battery or a cable. Free for households at the Oiva Station at Rusko and at regional waste drop-off points. Devices under 25 cm can also be handed in at larger shops selling electronics, with no obligation to buy anything.
Loose batteries and small-device battery packs, free at shops and waste stations. Tape over both terminals first — batteries that touch each other or bare metal can heat up and start a fire. A leaking battery goes in a bag.
Liquids, chemicals, anything with a hazard label, and anything containing mercury. Free for households at the Oivapiste at Rusko waste management centre and at regional waste stations. Larger quantities are charged.
Medicines go back to any pharmacy (apteekki), free of charge. They are not household waste and they do not go in the hazardous-waste bin at a waste station.
Worn clothing and household fabric, washed and dried, packed tightly into a plastic bag. Collected in trolleys at shopping centres and flea markets around Oulu, and at Rusko. Not everything made of fabric qualifies — read the item note.
Raked waste, grass, leaves and soft plants; branches and woody parts are collected too. Rusko waste management centre takes garden waste all year round. Stumps and soil are not garden waste.
Too big for a household bin, so it goes to a waste station for a fee. Bulky mixed waste is €0.20 per kilo with an €11 minimum; single pieces of furniture and spring mattresses are charged per piece at the Oiva Station instead.
Not a household bin at all. Rusko waste management centre or a regional waste station takes these — some free, some for a fee. The item note says which, and staff at the Oiva Station will confirm before you unload.
The full list, bin by bin
- Food scraps and leftovers
- Vegetable and fruit peelings
- Eggshells
- Coffee grounds
- Coffee filter papers
- Teabags and loose tea
- Kitchen paper and paper towels — Up to about a fifth of the biowaste bin may be soft paper. A paper tissue you have blown your nose into is combustible waste, not biowaste.
- Paper napkins, a few at a time — A large quantity of napkins — after a party, say — goes in combustible waste instead.
- Small bones, such as chicken or fish — Large bones, including the Christmas ham bone, go in combustible waste.
- Fish guts and fish bones
- Used cooking oil — Put it in a plastic bottle first, then in the biowaste bin. Straight into a composter it needs plenty of bulking material.
- Congealed frying fat and ham fat — Let it set, pack it in an empty carton or a plastic bottle, and put it in the biowaste bin. If your building has no biowaste bin, the packed fat goes in combustible waste. Never down the sink.
- Cat litter, mineral or wood-based — Clay- and bentonite-based litter is a different answer — that goes in combustible waste. Check the bag.
- Dog and cat mess — Into the building's biowaste bin, not a home composter.
- Carton packaging — milk, juice, cereal, pizza boxes — Rinse liquid cartons. Aluminium-lined cartons belong here too; a plastic cap goes in the plastic collection or in combustible waste.
- Egg cartons
- Paper disposable cups — The plastic-lined paper cup is carton here, not combustible waste. A disposable cup made of plastic goes in the plastic collection.
- Cake and pastry boxes
- Paper bags and paper sacks — Kiertokaari's rule is flat: all paper bags belong in the carton collection, brown or white, window or no window.
- Brown kraft wrapping paper — Shiny or plastic-coated gift wrap is a different answer — combustible waste.
- Medicine packaging made of card — The empty box only. Anything still holding medicine goes back to a pharmacy.
- Corrugated cardboard boxes, a few at a time — Flatten them. Small amounts go in the building's carton bin.
- Corrugated cardboard, a large load — Kiertokaari files a large load under pahvi rather than kartonki, but for a household it is the same collection — take a load that will not fit the bin to a waste station or the Oiva Station, free of charge.
- Newspapers — A newspaper that is dirty or wet is combustible waste instead.
- Magazines
- Advertising post and leaflets
- Envelopes, including window envelopes
- Printouts and copy paper
- Shredded paper
- Plastic packaging
- Yoghurt pots, butter tubs, ready-meal trays — Empty and, if it is greasy, rinsed. Very dirty plastic packaging goes in combustible waste.
- Plastic film, bags and crisp packets
- Plastic disposable cups and takeaway boxes
- Styrofoam used as packaging — Only the packaging kind. Styrofoam sold as building insulation is construction waste and goes to a waste station for a fee.
- Plastic medicine bottles and blister packs — Empty ones. Tablets still in the strip go back to a pharmacy.
- Glass bottles — A bottle with a deposit is worth more at a shop's return machine. Drinking glasses are not glass packaging — they go in combustible waste.
- Glass jars
- Glass medicine bottles — Empty and rinsed. If it still holds medicine, it goes to a pharmacy as it is.
- Tins and food cans
- Drink cans without a deposit — Cans with a deposit go to a shop's return machine.
- Aluminium foil and foil trays
- Aluminium lids, such as a yoghurt pot lid
- Empty metal tubes and metal packaging
- Frying pans and saucepans — Teflon-coated ones too — they are still more than half metal.
- Cutlery and metal kitchen tools
- Tealight cups, the metal part — The aluminium cup is metal; the wax and wick are combustible waste.
- Empty metal paint tins — Only when the paint inside is dry to the touch. A tin with liquid paint in it is hazardous waste.
- Empty aerosol cans — Empty means it neither hisses nor sloshes. If it does either, it is hazardous waste.
- Bicycles — A working bike is worth passing on rather than scrapping. Bicycle tyres and inner tubes are combustible waste, not tyre recycling.
- Scissors, shears and metal hand tools — A tool with a wooden handle: the metal head is metal, the handle is combustible waste.
- Wood-heated sauna stoves and barbecues — An electric sauna stove is a different answer — that is electrical waste.
- A broken plastic bowl, bucket or crate — This is the rule that catches most people out: the plastic collection is for packaging, so a plastic object that was never packaging is combustible waste. Some hard plastic items — buckets, bowls, vats, baby tubs, garden chairs and tables, waste bins, sleds, plastic boxes and chopping boards — are taken free at the Oiva Station at Rusko instead.
- Plastic and wooden kitchen utensils
- Toys without batteries — A toy with a battery or a plug is electrical waste.
- Nappies — Biodegradable nappies too. They can go in a home composter, but not in the biowaste bin.
- Sanitary towels and tampons
- Paper tissues — Kitchen paper goes in biowaste; a used tissue does not.
- Baking paper and greaseproof paper
- Till receipts — Receipt paper is coated thermal paper, so it is not recyclable with paper.
- Books — A readable book is better donated or sold. For the rest, the Oiva Station at Rusko has a free separate collection for books, paperbacks and schoolbooks — the covers have to come off first, and there is a container there for the covers.
- Gift wrap and Christmas paper — Plain brown kraft paper is the exception and goes in the carton collection.
- Candles and wax
- Grave candles — The plastic case and wax are combustible waste; the metal lid goes in metal.
- Shoes and boots — Shoes are one of the things textile collection does not take.
- Bags, rucksacks and suitcases — Textile collection does not take bags or belts. A large suitcase goes to a waste station as bulky waste.
- Duvets and blankets — A duvet is not textile waste — the collection takes flat fabric such as sheets, towels and curtains, but not padding, pillows or duvets.
- Pillows and cushions — Padded and stuffed items are outside the textile collection.
- Small rugs and mats — A large rug goes to a waste station as bulky waste. Carpets are not textile waste.
- Cat litter, clay or bentonite-based — Mineral- and wood-based litter is the opposite answer and goes in biowaste. The bag will say which it is.
- Cooled ash from a stove or fireplace — Let it cool completely, then bag it so it does not blow about when the bin is emptied. There is a limit: no more than 5 kg of ash and other non-combustible material per bin emptying — take a larger amount to a waste station.
- Cigarette ends
- Toothbrushes — An electric toothbrush is electrical waste.
- Make-up, cosmetics and part-used jars and tubes
- Flower pots — Plastic or ceramic, the answer is the same.
- Broken ceramics, crockery and porcelain, a small amount — Ceramic is not glass — it melts differently and would spoil a batch of recycled glass. A large amount is charged waste at a waste station.
- Drinking glasses and oven dishes — Drinking glasses, crystal, heat-resistant glass and glass coffee pots are all combustible waste, not glass packaging. Wrap sharp pieces before you put them in the bin.
- Small mirrors — A large mirror goes to a waste station as bulky waste.
- Incandescent and halogen bulbs — Only these two. An LED lamp is electrical waste, and an energy-saving lamp or fluorescent tube is hazardous waste because of the mercury in it.
- Fuses
- Glasses and sunglasses
- Cycle helmets
- Vacuum cleaner bags
- Tins of dried paint — A dried-out plastic tin. A metal one goes in metal, and anything with liquid paint still in it is hazardous waste.
- Dried-up nail varnish bottles — Only when it is empty and dry. Liquid nail varnish is hazardous waste.
- Dirty or wet newspaper — Clean, dry newspaper goes in paper.
- Mobile phones and chargers
- Computers, laptops, screens and printers
- Televisions
- Fridges and freezers
- Washing machines and dishwashers
- Vacuum cleaners
- Hair dryers, straighteners and curling tongs
- LED lamps and LED light strings — LEDs are electrical waste, not combustible waste — this is the one people most often get wrong at a bin.
- Light fittings and lamps
- Cables, leads and extension cords
- Battery-powered toys — Take the batteries out first and put those in the battery collection.
- Vapes and e-cigarettes
- Electric sauna stoves — A wood-heated stove goes in metal. Sauna stones are taken free at the Oiva Station and at waste stations — put them in loose, with no bag or box.
- Loose batteries — Tape over every terminal before you drop them in, button cells included. Free at shops and at waste stations.
- Phone, camera and power-bank batteries
- E-bike and e-scooter batteries — The shop that sold it will take it back, and so will the Oiva Station at Rusko.
- Energy-saving lamps — They contain mercury, so they have to come back whole — do not break one to fit it in a bag. A shop or a waste station will take it.
- Fluorescent tubes — Whole, loose, with no tape or cardboard around them, into their own collection container. They contain mercury.
- Tins with liquid paint in them — Once the paint is dry to the touch, the tin stops being hazardous — a metal one then goes in metal, a plastic one in combustible waste.
- Solvents, thinner, turpentine and petrol
- Acetone and nail-varnish remover
- Waste engine and lubricating oil
- Dishwasher tablets, powder and rinse aid — A surprise for most people: machine dishwasher detergent is strongly alkaline and Kiertokaari classes it as hazardous waste, not combustible waste.
- Oven and grill cleaner
- Drain unblocker
- Weedkiller, pesticide and rat poison
- Car batteries
- Aerosol cans that still hiss or slosh — Shake it. If you can hear liquid or feel pressure, it is hazardous waste; if it is truly empty it goes in metal.
- Lighters with fuel still in them — An empty lighter goes in combustible waste, or in metal if it is a metal one.
- New Year's tin — The cast tin figures poured on New Year's Eve. The alloy is not something for a household bin.
- Antifreeze and coolant
- Medicines, tablets, creams and sprays — Any pharmacy takes household medicine waste free of charge. Tablets and capsules go loose or in their strips, in a see-through sealed plastic bag; liquids, creams and sprays stay in their own containers; anything with iodine in it, such as Betadine, goes in a separate see-through bag.
- Mercury thermometers — A pharmacy takes these too, packaged, and a broken one in a tightly sealed package.
- Worn clothing, sheets, towels and curtains — Washed and dried, packed tight into a plastic bag, one to four shopping bags at a time. Fabric patches count if they are at least 20 x 20 cm. Not accepted: shoes, bags, belts, hats, gloves, underwear, socks, pillows, duvets, padding, stuffed animals or carpets — those are combustible waste, and so is anything dirty, wet, smelly or stained with oil or paint.
- Towels and tea towels
- Upholstery fabric
- Raked garden waste, grass and leaves — Rusko waste management centre takes garden waste all year. It is free with a garden waste ticket and charged without one.
- Branches and sticks
- Christmas trees — After Christmas the Oiva Station at Rusko has a dedicated skip for real trees; at other times they go to the garden waste area free of charge. Many housing companies also collect trees centrally — watch for a notice in your building or ask the isännöitsijä.
- Furniture — tables, chairs, sofas, shelves, wardrobes — Drive to the Oiva Station at Rusko and staff will check whether the per-piece fee applies. Furniture fees are paid at the Mini-Likke shop in the middle of the Oiva Station. If furniture is all you are bringing, you no longer have to go through the weighbridge.
- Spring mattresses — Spring mattresses go to the Oiva Station with the furniture, charged per piece.
- Foam and water mattresses — A mattress with no springs is charged as bulky mixed waste rather than per piece.
- Large rugs and carpets
- Large plastic objects — Anything plastic that will not fit the household bin. Some hard plastic items are taken free at the Oiva Station — worth asking before you pay for them as mixed waste.
- Sledges and snow sliders — Sleds are on the Oiva Station's free hard-plastic list, so ask there first.
- Child car seats
- Toilet bowls and washbasins
- Sauna stones — Free at the Oiva Station and at regional waste stations. Put them in loose, with no bags, boxes or wrapping. Vacuum dust and stove ash are not sauna stones — cool and bag those and they go in combustible waste.
- Window glass, without frames — Charged waste. Window glass, plate glass, car glass, glass shelves and toughened glass never belong in the glass packaging collection. Windows still in their frames are accepted only at Rusko.
- Car and motorcycle tyres — Free with or without rims, at a tyre shop, the Oiva Station or Pudasjärvi transfer station — the recycling fee was paid when the tyre was bought. Wheelbarrow and bicycle tyres are different: those go in combustible waste with their inner tubes.
- Laminate, parquet and treated wood — Charged waste at the Kierrätyspiha Kirsi yard at Rusko. Painted, varnished, waxed or stained wood, chipboard, hardboard, plywood and flat-pack furniture all count as treated wood. Nails, screws and fittings are not a problem.
- Untreated wood and pallets — Free. Small loads go to the Oiva Station; there is a separate point for large loads behind the garden waste area — announce a large load to staff over the weighbridge speakerphone.
- Broken ceramics and tiles, a large amount — Charged waste. A small amount of broken crockery goes in the household combustible bin instead.
- Confidential paper — Charged. Taken at the Oiva Station at Rusko and at Likke. Ordinary shredded paper goes in the paper collection at no cost.
The plastic bin is for packaging, not for plastic
5 kg of ash or other non-combustibles per emptying
Four lamps, four different answers
Which bins you actually have depends on your building
Things worth passing on rather than throwing out
Not the curb — these go to a depot
Rusko Waste Management Centre — Ruskonniityntie 10, Oulu
Open Mon–Fri 7.00–20.00 and Sat 9.30–16.00, closed on Sunday. The hazardous waste collection point keeps shorter hours: Mon–Thu 7.00–15.00, Fri 7.00–13.00. Card payment only. If you are bringing several small quantities of different waste types, it is worth ringing 08 5584 0020 first (Mon–Fri 8–16) — they will work out the cheapest way to sort the load.
The Oiva Station — free of charge for households
Paper, paperboard, cardboard, plastic packaging, metal (anything at least half metal by weight), glass bottles and jars, all domestic electronic devices, vehicle wheels with or without rims, batteries, sauna stones, non-surface-treated wood in small loads, some hard plastic items — buckets, bowls, vats, baby tubs, garden chairs and tables, waste bins, sleds, plastic storage boxes and chopping boards — and household hazardous chemicals. Books are taken free too, with the covers removed; there is a container at the Oivapiste for the covers.
What costs money
Bulky mixed waste is €0.20 per kilo with a minimum fee of €11; minimum fees across the site range from €6 to €23. A single piece of furniture or a spring mattress is charged per piece at the Oiva Station, with the fee paid at the Mini-Likke shop in the middle of the station. Construction waste, treated and pressure-treated wood, concrete, brick, window glass, asphalt and stumps go to the Kierrätyspiha Kirsi yard, all charged.
End-of-life textiles
Collection trolleys around Oulu: Valkea shopping centre on Isokatu (fourth floor, opposite the Budbee parcel locker), K-Citymarket Kaakkuri, Dom Second Hand on Asemakatu, Toppila-Center, Höyhtyän Välke, Kumppanuuskeskus on Kansankatu, the flea markets Järkikirppis and Vadelmatarha, Recycling Centre Likke on Jääsalontie, and Rusko itself, where the point is currently beside the entrance at the recovery station. Kiertokaari last updated that list on 10 November 2023, so it is worth checking before a special trip.
Medicines and needles
Any pharmacy takes household medicine waste free of charge — not a waste station, and not the household bin. Pharmacies accept medicine waste from homes only; a clinic's or a surgery's medicine waste is handled separately.
Customer service and sorting advice
Kiertokaari answers sorting questions on 08 5584 0020, Mon–Fri 8–16, or by email at neuvonta@kiertokaari.fi. The same number handles waste agreements and collection. Kiertokaari covers nine municipalities: Hailuoto, Ii, Kempele, Lumijoki, Oulu, Pudasjärvi, Raahe, Siikajoki and Simo.
The last word
Kiertokaari Oy is the municipal waste company for Oulu and eight neighbouring municipalities. Its English pages carry the stream names used here; its Finnish item index at kiertokaari.fi/lajitteluohjeet/jatteiden-aakkosellinen-listaus/ is the fuller list and is the last word if this page and that one disagree. Kiertokaari revises the item pages one at a time rather than all at once: some still carry a 2020 date and a few were changed in September 2026. A rule can therefore move without the rest of the index moving with it.
Kiertokaari's sorting instructions in English, and its Finnish A–Z of 514 items is the authority for your address.
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