138,000 tons of e-waste collected
In 2016, the Swiss population handed over just under 138,000 tons of waste electrical and electronic equipment for disposal. This is 4000 tons more than in the previous year.
In Switzerland, waste electrical and electronic equipment can be handed in for recycling free of charge. This is thanks to the advance recycling fee (vRG), which is charged when a new product is purchased. Electronics recycling is organized and managed by the two take-back systems SENS eRecycling and Swico Recycling. In 2016, a total of 137,808 tons of e-waste was generated (previous year 133,789). In terms of total weight, 62 percent is accounted for by household appliances and light bulbs (SENS eRecycling), while 38 percent is old IT, telecommunications and consumer electronics equipment (Swico Recycling).
Higher take-back volumes for household appliances and photovoltaics
In the SENS system, 85,446 tons of electrical and electronic equipment were taken back and processed. Compared with the previous year, the volume taken back increased in almost all categories. Large and small household appliances were the main contributors to this result, with increases of 10 and 11 percent respectively. On the other hand, the volumes of luminaires (-18%) and illuminants (-1%) declined. The development in photovoltaics is exciting - since the beginning of 2015, modules have been taken back at all SENS collection points. The first generation photovoltaic systems are now being continuously dismantled and replaced by modern, efficient systems. This trend is very clearly reflected in the take-back rates: while around 70 tons of PV modules were recycled with SENS in 2015, this figure was already around 120 tons in 2016.
Lightweights remain on trend
The trend towards more powerful and at the same time lighter ICT products continued in 2016. The total weight of returned products fell by around 4 percent last year. A total of 52,362 tons of IT, consumer electronics and telecommunications equipment were returned (previous year: 54,721 tons).
This is in contrast to unit sales, which continued to rise. The main reason for this is still the redistribution of flat screens and CRTs. In 2016, 52 percent more flat-screen TVs and 30 percent more flat-screen PC monitors were returned in terms of total weight. The situation was quite different for CRT televisions and PC monitors. Here, the weight fell by 34 percent (TV) and 39 percent (PC) respectively.
