WÄDI AWARE
Plastic Recycling in Switzerland
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It is a common practice in Switzerland to recycle different types of waste. According to Swissrecycle, the recycling rate was 52% in 2023. Well known for recycling are cardboard, aluminium or pet. For a few years now, plastics have also been collected. But sometimes it is still confusing which type of plastic can be recycled and which should be thrown away.
Many areas already have a plastic collection system. There are a variety of paid bags (such as those used for general waste) in which plastics can be collected. A full bag can often be taken to the local collection point for disposal. However, collecting plastics requires some basic knowledge about the different types of plastic and the composition of different types of packaging. Each has a specific function to protect the product inside. Sometimes a package is made of more than one type of plastic. The website of swissrecycle therefore provides an overview of recyclable plastics.
There are already several plastic recycling systems in Switzerland. However, the aim is to organise the recycling of plastics within a single system in the future. This would make recycling more accessible to people who have little knowledge of the different types of plastic. But today there are different collections of plastics. In principle, each system collects each type of plastic for recycling (see the list in the table below). However, there are few differences between these systems.
| Plastic type | Examples |
| Plastic bags and foil (also from self-service) | Stretch and shrink foil from food, plastic packaging material of food like package of cookies, ... |
| Beaker, plastic packages from food, plastic shells | Shells from fruits or meat, yoghurt beaker |
| Plastic bottles | Shampoo containers, milk and cream bottles out of plastic, bottles of cleaning agents, no PET is collected for plastic recycling |
As there are different collecting systems for plastic recycling in Switzerland sometimes additional plastic is accepted for collection (see list in the second table).
| System | Plastic type | Examples |
| Bring Plastic Back | Tubes | From toothpaste, hand cream, sunscreen |
| Hard plastic | Buckets (eg from yoghurt), plastic flower top, storage boxes, drinking cup | |
| Liquid packaging board | TetraPak | |
| Multi-layer packages | Packages from chips, praline, cookies | |
| Further packaging material | Plastic package of butter or margarine | |
| Kunststoffsammelsack (Baldini) | Hard plastic | Garden utensils, CD and DVD shells |
| Tubes | Tubes from toothpaste and creams | |
| Liquid packaging board | TetraPak | |
| Generation M-Sack | no further plastic collected | - |
| KuhBag | Hard plastic | Buckets, plastic flower top |
| Liquid packaging board | TetraPak | |
| Further plastic | Vinegar and Oil bottles, Toothpaste tubes | |
| RecyBag | Liquid packaging board | TetraPak, milk packages |
It is easier to recycle materials if different types of plastic from the same packaging are separated (e.g. remove foil from trays). Also, cups and trays should not be stacked. Plastic bottles can be crushed and closed with the lid to make room in the collection bag. Not collecte is usually very dirty plastic. To find out more about the systems in place in different parts of Switzerland, you may find it useful to visit the website of the system operating in your area at the following links.
Written by Sandra Fritsche / Image created with CoPilot
Aufschlussreicher Überblick über die Herausforderungen des Plast
Der Artikel bietet eine fundierte und verständliche Einführung in die aktuelle Situation des Plastikrecyclings in der Schweiz. Besonders hilfreich ist die übersichtliche Darstellung der verschiedenen Sammelsysteme und der Unterschiede in der Annahme von Kunststoffarten. Die Hinweise zur richtigen Trennung und Sammlung sind praxisnah und motivieren zum Mitmachen. Auch die transparente Angabe zur Unterstützung durch CoPilot unterstreicht einen verantwortungsvollen Umgang mit KI. Eine Visualisierung der Sammelsysteme oder eine Karte nach Regionen könnte Leser*innen zusätzlich helfen, das passende System vor Ort schneller zu finden.