Recycling: 138,000 tonnes of electronic waste produced
The Swiss population is catching up in terms of recycling. In 2016, the Swiss handed over just under 138,000 tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment for disposal. This is 4000 tonnes more than in the previous year. On the other hand, fewer luminaires were returned.
Countries like Norway are world champions when it comes to recycling. Perhaps Switzerland will continue to catch up. In 2016, a total of 137,808 tonnes of e-waste were generated in Switzerland (previous year 133,789). In terms of total weight, 62 per cent was household appliances and light bulbs (SENS eRecycling), 38 per cent was old IT, telecommunications and consumer electronics equipment (Swico Recycling).
In Switzerland, waste electrical and electronic equipment can be handed in for recycling free of charge. This is thanks to the advance recycling fee (vRG), which is charged when a new product is purchased. Electronics recycling is organised and managed by the two take-back systems SENS eRecycling and Swico Recycling.
Higher redemption volumes
In the SENS system, 85,446 tonnes of electrical and electronic equipment were taken back and processed. Compared with the previous year, the quantity taken back increased in almost all categories. Large and small household appliances in particular shaped this result, with increases of 10 and 11 per cent respectively.
On the other hand, the quantities of luminaires (-18%) and lamps (-1%) declined. The development in photovoltaics is exciting - since the beginning of 2015, modules have been taken back at all SENS collection points. The first generation photovoltaic systems are now being continuously dismantled and replaced by modern, efficient systems. This trend is very clearly reflected in the take-back rates: while in 2015 around 70 tonnes of PV modules were recycled with SENS, in 2016 the figure was already around 120 tonnes.
Lightweights remain in vogue
The trend towards more powerful and at the same time lighter ICT products continued in 2016. Thus, the total weight of the quantity taken back fell by around 4 per cent last year. A total of 52,362 tonnes of IT, consumer electronics and telecommunications equipment were returned (previous year 54,721 tonnes).
In contrast to the number of units, which continued to rise. The main reason for this is still the redistribution of flat-screen and CRT monitors. In 2016, 52 percent more flat-screen TVs and 30 percent more flat-screen PC monitors were returned in terms of total weight. It's quite a different story for CRT TVs and PC monitors. Here, the weight fell by 34 percent (TV) and 39 percent (PC) respectively.
Further links: www.eRecycling.ch ; www.swico.ch and www.swicorecycling.ch
