New collection system under construction The whole of Switzerland is to recycle plastic

A new collection system is to recycle a significantly larger proportion of plastic packaging in Switzerland. Greenpeace criticizes that plastic recycling does little for the environment and creates false incentives.

Plastic is the open wound in Switzerland's recycling system. Glass, aluminum, paper, batteries, electrical appliances - there are collection points for all of them or the municipality collects the recyclable materials itself.

However, the recycling of the omnipresent plastic is still in its infancy. Swiss households consume 195,000 tons of plastic packaging and beverage cartons every year. Only a small proportion is recycled so far, writes "Blick".

In certain cantons, Migros takes back plastic waste in a collection bag for a fee in order to recycle it, as do various recycling companies such as Innorecycling and Mr. Green.

A nationwide system for plastic waste

The company Recypac has now announced that it is setting up a nationwide collection and recycling system for packaging plastic and beverage cartons. Its name: Recybag. Managing Director Odile Inauen says: "We are closing one of the biggest gaps in the Swiss circular economy."

Users can dispose of all plastic food packaging as well as containers for cleaning and personal care products in the Recybag. The collection organization also takes back drinks cartons. Plastic toys and PET, for which there is a separate collection system, do not belong in the Recybag.

So far, the Recybag and the associated collection system are only available in a few municipalities. One is the city of Bern, the other agglomerations are in the canton of Zurich. Coop and Migros as well as municipal collection points sell the collection bags. Recypac recommends maximum prices ranging from CHF 1.00 for 17 liters to CHF 4.00 for 110 liters.

Wholesalers and food producers are participating

Migros and Coop take back the bags filled with plastic waste, usually in larger branches, as is already the case with Migros' own plastic collection system, for example.

The collected packaging is sorted in Austria, as there is currently no suitable facility in Switzerland. In certified facilities, the materials are processed into recyclates that are reused in industry. In the long term, efforts are being made to use these recyclates for food packaging as well.

Recypac has set itself the goal of achieving a recycling rate of 55% for packaging and 70% for beverage cartons by 2030. This means that 55 out of every 100 plastic packaging items sold and 70 out of every 100 drinks cartons are to be recycled.

Recypac, the organization behind the Recybag, is supported by large retailers such as Coop, Migros and Spar as well as discounters such as Aldi, Denner and Lidl. Companies such as Emmi, Hug and Nestlé are also involved.

Greenpeace thinks little of plastic recycling

Migros introduced its own plastic collection system in 2021, which is available in several cantons. For Migros customers, nothing will change initially with the new Recybag, as the existing collection bags can still be used. A changeover to the Recybag will be examined in due course, Recypac announced.

This means that Switzerland has another opportunity to conserve natural resources. This should please Greenpeace. But it only does so to a limited extent. The Swiss section of the environmental organization criticizes the collection system for creating the wrong incentives.

"Separate collection of plastic waste will not reduce the need for new plastic for packaging. This is because no new packaging can be made from the plastic packaging that ends up in recycling, only coarser plastic products," explains Joëlle Hérin, an expert on consumption and the circular economy at Greenpeace Switzerland.

Reusable packaging would save more resources

blue News asks how much energy can be saved by recycling plastic. Michelle Sandmeier from Greenpeace refers to a study from 2017, which provides an illustrative example: "If a person in Switzerland collects 70 percent of their plastic waste separately for a year, the ecological benefit is equivalent to not eating a beef entrecôte."

The reason for this balance is that recycling plastic is complicated and energy-intensive. In the case of Recybag, the plastic waste first has to be transported abroad because there are no corresponding recycling plants in Switzerland.

Greenpeace is calling for reusable packaging instead of recycling, as this would reduce the amount of plastic used for new packaging. Sandmeier explains: "The major distributors and producers involved could work together to create a system by offering the same reusable packaging that can be returned to all of them."

However, Recybag and the companies that support the system are not talking about this. They have set themselves another major task by extending plastic recycling to the whole of Switzerland.

The editor wrote this article with the help of AI.