Finnish student returns 7,371 bottles and cans to raise over €1,100 for charity

A 21-year-old university student spent more than five hours feeding 7,371 bottles and cans into the sole deposit return machine at a village shop in Hetta, northern Finland, raising €1,119.45 for humanitarian aid in Ukraine and ALS research, Finnish broadcaster Yle reports.

Jan Wahlberg, an archaeology student at the University of Oulu, collected the containers over three years as part of a personal fundraising challenge. The effort tied up the only reverse vending machine at Hetta’s K-market for the entire Monday morning, with the final can processed just after 2 pm.

Shopkeeper Erkki Rantakokko told Yle that the machine—designed to crush items one by one—typically handles just a few bags of returns per week, mostly from Norwegian tourists or locals gathering litter from nearby fells. Wahlberg’s haul filled 50–70 large garbage bags plus additional boxes, yet Rantakokko confirmed the machine’s compactor could handle the volume without issue.

The project began when Wahlberg noticed accumulated bags of recyclables and set an initial €100 goal, later expanding it to €1,000. He chose to return the containers in Hetta, where the idea originated, citing “hometown pride” and a desire to bring more activity to the remote municipality.

Among the returns were foreign containers—Swedish, Norwegian, and even Spanish—found along Highway 21, which connects Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Wahlberg plans to return the Swedish cans to Sweden for additional refunds, earmarking those funds for his student budget. The Finnish deposit money will split between Ukrainian humanitarian efforts, ALS research, and a third, undisclosed cause to be revealed this autumn.

Wahlberg, who has made 16 humanitarian trips to Ukraine since 2023, said he would return as soon as possible. “I wanted to keep a bit of mystery around one of the donations,” he added.