First municipalities begin Swiss-wide plastic packaging recycling scheme

Recypac's plastic packaging collection service is currently available in Bern, Dietikon, Greifensee, Oetwil an der Limmat and Schlieren in German-speaking Switzerland. Other municipalities will follow in the coming weeks, it says. Keystone-SDA

A new collection system to recycle plastic packaging and drinks cartons has begun in a handful of Swiss municipalities - others should follow in the coming weeks. The aim is to create a nationwide recycling system in Switzerland.

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Recypac’s plastic collection service is currently available in Bern, Dietikon, Greifensee, Oetwil an der Limmat and Schlieren in German-speaking Switzerland. Other municipalities will follow in the coming weeks, according to a press release on Thursday. Recypac currently requires approval from each municipality in order to offer the plastic collection system.

The non-profit organisation is backed by retailers, food and packaging producers, recyclers and municipalities. These include Aldi Suisse, Coop, Denner, Emmi, Lidl Switzerland, Migros, Nestlé, Unilever and Valora.

“We have been working for years to simplify our packaging and make it recyclable,” said Eugenio Simioni, Head of Nestlé Suisse, in the press release. The new infrastructure now makes it possible to recycle the packaging.

Coop and Migros have been collecting plastic packaging in some regions. However, this system has reached its limit, according to Christopher Rohrer from Migros. “A nationally standardised solution brings important efficiency gains and is in the interest of consumers,” he explained.

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Plastic collection is not free of charge for consumers. Collection bags, which are available in four sizes from municipalities and retailers, cost between CHF1 (17-litre bag) and CHF4 (110-litre bag).

The idea is that consumers use the bags to collect their plastic packaging and drinks cartons at home. The waste does not need to be washed. The so-called Recybags can be returned to the retailers Coop and Migros and to the municipalities.

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The collected plastic is still being recycled in neighbouring countries. According to the industry organisation, the resulting recycled plastic can be used in Swiss industry, for example. In future, it should also be possible to use it to produce food packaging again.

In Switzerland, only 3% of plastic packaging is currently recycled. The industry organisation has set itself the goal of achieving a recycling rate of 55% for plastic packaging and 70% for beverage cartons by 2030.

Translated from German by DeepL/sb

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