News
Sitra is accelerating the sustainability transition in Finland and internationally.
Journalist
Published
18.6.2026
Kimmo Tiilikainen, a former Finnish government minister and director general of the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK), will join Sitra as a part-time senior advisor in October 2026. Tiilikainen will work with Sitra on international activities related to the sustainable transition to the circular economy, including with the EU Circular Economy Resource Centre (EU CERC), which Sitra helps administer.
Kristo Lehtonen, Director of International Programmes at Sitra, believes the EU CERC represents a major opportunity for the EU to promote the green transition, develop value chains for critical minerals and export circular economy solutions.
“As a former minister and director general of GTK, Kimmo Tiilikainen brings strategic vision and networks to Sitra that are crucial for achieving our goals,” he says.
“I am looking forward to my role at EU CERC,” says Tiilikainen. “I believe we have a great opportunity to improve our circularity in minerals and critical raw materials.”
Tiilikainen has expertise in environmental policy, having served as a Finnish MP for sixteen years and was a minister several times, including Minister of the Environment. He was instrumental in getting the circular economy added as a priority to the Government programme, helped Finland complete its circular economy road map, and has spoken at the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) on five separate occasions.
After leaving politics Tiilikainen became director general of the state-owned agency GTK, where he oversaw their work in research and services in the energy, mining, water and engineering geology and construction sectors. Bringing more circular solutions to minerals and critical raw materials will be a major part of his coming tasks.
The world’s reuse rate of many metals remains extremely poor, according to the International Energy Agency. Only 3 percent of the lithium we use comes from secondary sources, for example. Tiilikainen says there are major improvements we can make in the mining and metals industries.
“We can get much more out of mine tailings,” he explains. “We can improve extraction of critical raw materials out of mine waste, but we can also improve our uses of tailings. We could repurpose large amounts of tailings for use in the building and construction industry.”
Part of Tiilikainen’s role will be to help achieve this by improving policy frameworks and developing industrial collaborations. His experience in international relations, such as with the EU Commission, will be valuable as EU CERC works with third countries in circular economy activities.
“Many African countries, for example, are interested in working with us as they develop their circular economy policies” Tiilikainen says. “I look forward to working with representatives in other countries to advance circular solutions. I believe I can help support EU CERC build lasting results in the circular economy.”
The EU Circular Economy Resource Centre (EU CERC) is an initiative to accelerate the global transition to a circular economy through collaboration between EU and partner countries. The centre is funded by the European Union under the Global Gateway strategy and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. It is implemented by Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund, and Enabel, the Belgian Agency for International Cooperation.