Europress Group CEO Matti Turunen founded

Europress with his then business partner in 1977, at the age of just 21. The company started by selling British waste management equipment but soon introduced its own Finnish production. Today, Kerava-based Europress Group Oy is a pioneer in the recycling technology industry with its own Europress SMART service, manufacturing smart waste management equipment and employing 279 people in five different countries. Matti Turunen continues to serve as CEO of the company, which will be 47 years old in December.

Looking ahead is a prerequisite for success

Europress has come a long way from a two-person sales office to a recycling technology company with almost 300 employees that is showing the future direction of waste management.

“When I started my entrepreneurial journey, my father, who worked as a financial director, gave me this advice: if you do not achieve a positive result by the third year, you can give up,” remembers Matti Turunen. “There was no need to give up. Europress has survived even the difficult years thanks to our faith in the future, bold approach and strong vision for developments – such as the Europress SMART service, which helps our customers meet the challenges of waste management.”

Matti Turunen is a humanist, for whom people are the company’s most important asset. He values good long-term partnerships. Europress has had employment relationships that have lasted over 20 years. The technological expertise of the company’s employees is key to the success of Europress. The investments made in automation solutions at the factory have improved work ergonomics and created new jobs.

According to Matti Turunen, one of the best decisions was moving to Kerava in 2009, as a result of which, Europress had all operations from product development to manufacturing under one roof. Kerava is a flexible and entrepreneur-friendly city with a great location.

Resilience strengthens belief  in a bright future

The newly honoured Matti Turunen says that his own means of survival as an entrepreneur have been the strong support of his own family combined with his courage and humility.