Questions about plastics

Certified system operators of the "Swiss Plastic Recyclers" association VSPR collect mixed household plastics throughout Switzerland. Styrofoam (expanded polystyrene) has also been collected and recycled since 2022. All of these system operators receive a certificate (quality label), for which they must meet strict requirements every year.

The VSPR operates a nationwide collection and control system and awards a quality label every year. The quality label, which is clearly recognizable on the collection bag, guarantees that the plastic waste collected is recycled and recovered by the participating collection companies (system operators) and their treatment partners under strict conditions. The association publishes corresponding figures every year as part of a monitoring report. An independent certification and inspection body ensures compliance with the criteria and audits the companies/system operators as well as their partners, sorters and recycling plants on site.

The collected plastic waste is sent to a sorting plant near the border. There is not yet a sorting plant in Switzerland, but there are plans to build one. The sorted material returns to Switzerland and is processed into regranulate in Switzerland and reused in the plastics industry, e.g. for pipes, films and packaging. Sorting residues are also recycled thermally in Switzerland (cement industry/ waste incineration plant). At present, it is not permitted to produce new food packaging from used food packaging.

One particular example is the reuse of the granulate to produce collection bags, which in turn are used to collect plastic waste. This closes the cycle and contributes to sustainability.

The association uses a method developed by Empa to calculate the industrial recycling rate and has it audited externally. This method is very strict and takes into account all losses in the recycling process and only counts the material that can be reused in industry. Thanks to the advanced technical possibilities in sorting and processing, an annually increasing recycling rate is achieved. The certified system operators must meet the following target: an industrial recycling rate of at least 55% from 2025, 60% from 2028 and 65% from 2030. 54.6% could be recycled in 2023.

Since 2024, all sorting residues have been returned to Switzerland to ensure that they do not end up in the environment but are thermally recycled in Swiss cement plants or waste incineration plants. Where no other option is possible, volume equivalents are returned.

With Design for Recycling, the packaging is designed in such a way that it consists of a single uniform material as far as possible and can be easily broken down into its constituent parts, or soiling such as labels can be easily removed. This counteracts the ongoing trend towards non-recyclable multi-layer packaging, so-called "composite packaging" or multilayers. Consumers can also make an important contribution to quality by only collecting recyclable packaging.

The success of recycling is measured by how many raw materials can be recovered from the collected household packaging waste and what applications are created from it. Cable conduits or films are such high-quality applications for which there is a high demand in the industry.

Those who collect their household plastics make an important contribution to conserving oil resources and reducing CO2 emissions. Firstly, recycling avoids incineration and, in addition, it is not necessary to use crude oil for new plastic products; crude oil can be replaced by recycled material, so-called secondary material.

In concrete terms, every kg of plastic that is recycled instead of incinerated saves 2.83 kg of CO2. At the same time, the use of 1 kg of recycled material from plastic waste can save 3 liters of crude oil compared to primary material (new material). Products made from recycled material from households and industry therefore have a lower CO2 footprint.

If the collection of plastic packaging from households in Switzerland were fully expanded, around 112,000 tons of plastics and beverage cartons could be collected, saving around 160,000 tons of CO2 with today's processing technology.

The separate collection of PET beverage bottles has been a success for years, with a recycling rate of over 80%. The recycling of PET beverage bottles is financed by a voluntary system operated by the PRS association. PET beverage bottles are collected at over 50,000 collection points in Switzerland.

High-quality recyclates with an existing demand and good market value can be produced from separately collected PET beverage bottles. In terms of life cycle assessment, bottle-to-bottle recycling (production of new PET beverage bottles) proves to be the most valuable.

While a so-called advance disposal fee is charged for glass or PET bottles when they are sold, for example, mixed plastic collection is financed via a bag fee, as is the case with refuse. The fees cover in particular the collection logistics, sorting, the feeding of usable material for recycling and the thermal treatment of non-recyclable residual materials.