This is how we pay for recycling

Every Swiss citizen pays an average of 63 francs a year for recycling. “It varies from person to person, because the amount depends on consumption,” explains Patrik Geisselhardt, expert on economic cycles and Managing Director of Swiss Recycling.

Where do you pay the most and which recyclables are cheap? Blick did some research.

Glass

A 0.33 dl bottle of beer contains a two centimeter “pre-disposal fee” (vEG). A bottle of wine costs six cents. The amount must be paid by the bottle manufacturer, that is, the person who puts the bottles on the market. However, the costs will likely add to the price and thus be borne by consumers.

In total, about 40 million Swiss francs are collected each year. Municipalities collecting waste glass in containers are paid from this money pot. Municipalities can sell used glass to anyone they want in Switzerland or abroad. A municipality charges more for glass that is cleanly separated by color, or about 90 francs per ton. If there are colored mini shards where only sand substitutes can be made, there are still 18 francs per ton.

There is a Vetro Swiss recycling facility for green glass that also manages the pot with the fees collected. “Twenty years ago there was a factory in Bülach that also recycles different colored glass,” says Geisselhardt. Specifically, all the different colored old glass goes abroad today. “The cycle is more or less the same, as so much wine is imported into Switzerland and a corresponding number of bottles come from abroad.”

batteries

80 percent of conventional and button cell batteries are recycled. Here, too, an advance fee is included in the selling price. It is at least three inches per piece, or 1.60 to 3.20 per kilogram.

The business organization Inobat, which also manages the fee pool, is taking a closer look at recycling batteries – after all, batteries are hazardous waste. This means: Collected batteries are only given to authorized disposal companies.

Collection points do not charge for batteries. Proceeds are used for proper transport, recycling or disposal of batteries. Lithium-ion batteries always end up abroad as they cannot be processed in Switzerland yet.

PET beverage bottles

We also pay an early recycling fee for PET bottles: 2.3 centimeters for bottles up to 5 deciliter, 1.9 centimeters for larger bottles. Recycling works a little differently here: Business organization PET-Recycling Switzerland (PRS) buys the material. This means that communities and collection points can give collected PET to the PRS and receive compensation for collection efforts.

The bottles are then recycled at Frauenfeld and recycled into new PET bottles at Bilten GL. “The demand for PET bottles is so high right now that individual buyers are allowed to take back their full market share in new bottles,” says Patrik Geisselhardt, who is pleased with the good circulation in Switzerland.

aluminum

Recycling costs about one cent per can. Since there is no smelter in Switzerland, all of the collected cans go abroad.

electrical appliances

The advanced disposal fee for electronic devices varies by device. 26 francs for a refrigerator weighing more than 25 kilograms. “The most modern factory in Europe is in Aarwangen, where, among other things, the refrigerators were smashed,” explains Geisselhardt. This facility will recycle up to 95 percent of a refrigerator and process approximately 1,600 refrigerators per day.

paper and cardboard

If you want to dispose of the cartons at the collection center in Central Switzerland, you have to pay partially. “The price of cardboard is so low that collection centers and communities charge a fee for disposal,” says cycling expert Geisselhardt.

Each municipality is responsible for collecting paper and cardboard itself. Until now it was mostly free because the logistics of collection could be paid for with the sale of the material.

In some municipalities you can throw cardboard and paper together. “Then the disposal company has to separate the two materials. However, it is much cheaper if people are already doing it themselves.” Geisselhardt believes the garbage bag fee helps ensure a high rate of recycling in Switzerland.

green waste

1.3 million tons of green waste is collected in Switzerland. It is free of charge or subject to payment at the green container fee depending on the municipality. Each community can decide for itself. “Green waste disposal is expensive because large amounts have to be managed,” says Geisselhardt. Shipping costs about 115 francs per ton, plus about 125 francs for recycling. This results in a cost of 240 francs per ton of green waste.

We will see in the near future whether they will make any changes in this regard: because biogas is more in demand than ever before. Therefore, organic waste may become more valuable.