Switzerland has a gigantic raw materials mine
Over the past 30 years, Swico has collected and recycled around one million tons of electronic devices - that's twice the weight of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. The result? A raw material mine that delivers almost a ton of precious metals worth around 12 million Swiss francs every year.
Closing material cycles means using existing raw materials efficiently and increasing their added value. The volume of raw materials in urban areas is enormous. Through efficient and targeted recovery, this potential can make a significant contribution to reducing environmentally harmful extraction in mines and supplying industry with secondary raw materials.
Valuable secondary raw materials for industry
The Swico recycling system recovers around 27,000 tons of secondary raw materials from old electrical appliances every year. These are estimated to include:
- 21,600 tons of industrial metals such as iron, aluminium and copper
- 4,300 tons of plastics
- 900 kilograms of precious metals such as gold, silver and palladium.
The recovered precious metals alone are enough to cover four times the annual demand for laptops in Switzerland. In addition, the recycled copper from old electrical appliances would be enough to produce 14 times more smartphones than are currently sold in Switzerland.
Recycling promotes independence
Around 90 percent of IT, communication and entertainment devices placed on the Swiss market find their way back into the Swico recycling system years later. Unlike natural mines, which are exhausted at some point, the flow of disposed and collected electronic devices never dries up. Swico's central mission is to bring as many raw materials as possible back into the global economic cycle in their purest form. "Our recycling system is an urban mine and therefore an invaluable asset to the circular economy," says Jon Fanzun, Managing Director of Swico. "Our efforts reduce dependence on environmentally harmful raw material extraction and we create valuable jobs."
Rapid growth in electronic devices
The rapid growth in electronic devices in recent years highlights the need for an efficient recycling system. The number of devices taken back has risen from around 7 million in 2012 to an impressive 10 million in 2023 - an annual increase of 28%. This growth is due to the increasing demand for new multifunctional appliances.
Urban Mining is thanks to a sophisticated and sophisticated recycling system: Swico has been operating a nationwide ecosystem of 600 collection points, 6,000 drop-off points in retail outlets and 7 recycling partners for 30 years. These collect, dismantle and recycle appliances of all brands carefully and to the highest standards - and as far as possible in Switzerland. But it is only thanks to consumers who conscientiously bring their devices for disposal that around 40,000 tons of electronic waste are collected every year.
Innovation as a key success factor
Swico is constantly driving innovation to make the recycling system ever more efficient and progressive. Swico Recycling's Innovation Fund, which supports forward-looking projects with up to CHF 300,000, points the way to a sustainable future. The recovery of rare earths in particular, which is still economically challenging today, remains a long-term goal.
Source: www.swico.ch
