The Ham Trick (“Kinkkutemppu” in Finnish), a campaign demonstrating circular economy, has once again reached a record result by getting 240,000 Finnish households to recycle Christmas cooking waste fats. Now, for the fifth time, more than 40,000 more households participated in the campaign than in the previous year. The number of participants in the collection has grown every year, and despite an exceptional year, the campaign once again collected a record result. This was partly due to the increased network of collection points, which included almost 350 this year.

“It is great to see how more and more Finnish households are participating in the Ham Trick every year,” said Lars Peter Lindfors, senior vice president of innovation at Neste. “This is an indication that Finns are adopting the circular economy and waste recycling in their daily lives. Thanks to all the partners and households who took part in the campaign and made the Ham Trick a success once again.”

Neste uses the waste fats to produce Neste MY Renewable Diesel, which enables greenhouse gas emission reduction by up to 90 percent compared to fossil diesel over the fuel’s life cycle. The amount of waste fats collected through the Ham Trick was slightly lower this year compared to last year. The amount of renewable diesel produced through the Ham Trick is enough to drive a car around the world by up to 17 times.

The most surprising change in the 2020 Ham Trick compared to previous year was the difference in the amount of fat collected. A year ago, nearly 60 tons of fat was collected by almost 200,000 participants, while this year 240,000 participants collected 55 tons. There can be many reasons for the lower amount of collected fat, one of which may be the sizes of modern hams.

According to Lihatiedotus, small and boneless hams are becoming more popular every year. The effects of the coronavirus pandemic on Christmas celebrations may also have affected the amount of fat collected—instead of big family celebrations, many people spent Christmas in a small circle, which also resulted in less fat per household.

The Ham Trick is a cooperative project initiated by the Chemical Industry Federation, with the aim of familiarizing consumers with the principles of circular economy. Consumers were asked to return the excess waste fats from Christmas cooking to recycling points, from which Neste MY Renewable Diesel was refined. The goal of the campaign was to involve 250,000 Finnish households. In addition to the Chemical Industry Federation, the other organizations behind the campaign are Neste, Lassila & Tikanoja, Honkajoki, Kemian pooli, Kesko Corp., Finnish Packaging Recycling RINKI, Atria, HKScan, Snellman, the Rural Women’s Advisory Organization, the federation of garbage disposal plants Kiertovoima KIVO and municipal garbage disposal plants, the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, the Finnish Water Utilities Association FIWA and Finnish Environmental Industries YTP.