Lajiteltuani biojätteen vein lasit ja paperit kierrätyspisteeseen talon kulmalla.

It is a compact Finnish time expression meaning after I had sorted or having sorted.

In this sentence, lajiteltuani biojätteen means after sorting the biowaste.

This form is part of a structure called the temporal construction. It is built from:

• the verb lajitella = to sort
• a participle-based form lajiteltua
• the possessive ending -ni = my / I

So lajiteltuani literally works something like after my having sorted, but in natural English it is simply after I had sorted.

A very important point: the person doing the action in lajiteltuani is the same person as in the main verb vein. So both actions are done by I.

Because Finnish usually leaves out subject pronouns when the verb form already makes the subject clear.

Here:

• vein = I took
• -ni in lajiteltuani also points to I

So adding minä would usually be unnecessary unless you wanted emphasis:

• Minä vein... = I took..., not someone else.

Because biojätteen is the total object form here.

The idea is that the biowaste was sorted as a completed action. Finnish often marks a completed, bounded object with the genitive/accusative-like form in the singular:

• lajitella biojätteen = sort the biowaste completely

If you used biojätettä, that would sound more like:

• some biowaste
• biowaste in a more indefinite sense
• or an incomplete/ongoing action

So biojätteen fits the idea after I had sorted the biowaste.

They are also total objects, but in the plural.

In Finnish, plural total objects usually look like the nominative plural:

• lasit
• paperit

That means the speaker took the glass items and the paper items as complete, definite things to the recycling point.

If you said:

• laseja ja papereita

that would sound more indefinite or partial, more like some glass and some papers.

Not in this context.

Lasit can mean different things depending on context:

• eyeglasses
• drinking glasses
• glass items / glass waste

Because the sentence is about taking things to a kierrätyspiste (recycling point), lasit is understood as glass for recycling.

Likewise, paperit here means paper waste / papers for recycling, not necessarily official documents.

It is in the illative case, which often means into or to a place.

So:

• kierrätyspiste = recycling point
• kierrätyspisteeseen = into/to the recycling point

It is used because there is movement toward a destination:

• vein lasit ja paperit kierrätyspisteeseen = I took the glass and paper to the recycling point

Compare:

• kierrätyspisteellä = at the recycling point
• kierrätyspisteeseen = to the recycling point

Because kulmalla means at the corner / by the corner, which is the natural choice here.

Breakdown:

• talon = of the house/building
• kulmalla = at the corner, by the corner

So talon kulmalla means at the corner of the building.

If you said kulmassa, that usually suggests in the corner, often more like an inside corner or a point within something. For a location outside, such as a recycling point near the corner of a building, kulmalla is the normal expression.

It is correct Finnish, but it is more typical of written or slightly more formal/compact language.

In everyday speech, many people would more naturally say something like:

• Kun olin lajitellut biojätteen, vein lasit ja paperit...
• Lajittelin biojätteen ja vein sitten lasit ja paperit...

So the original sentence is perfectly normal, but it sounds a bit more condensed and written than casual conversation.

Yes. Finnish word order is fairly flexible.

This sentence begins with the time/background part:

• Lajiteltuani biojätteen... = After sorting the biowaste...

That is a natural way to set up what happened first.

You could change the order, but the focus would shift a little. For example:

• Vein lasit ja paperit kierrätyspisteeseen talon kulmalla lajiteltuani biojätteen.

That is possible, but the original version sounds smoother because Finnish often puts this kind of time expression first.

Because viedä means to take / carry something somewhere.

Here the speaker is moving objects:

• vein lasit ja paperit = I took the glass and papers

If you used mennä, that would just mean to go:

• menin kierrätyspisteeseen = I went to the recycling point

That would not by itself tell us that the speaker brought the recycling with them. So vein is exactly the right verb here.