Too many foreign substances in PET recycling
The Swiss population is becoming increasingly inaccurate when it comes to PET recycling: the proportion of foreign materials is rising. This endangers and makes more expensive the recycling cycle of the bottles. PET Recycling Switzerland is therefore calling for greater separation accuracy.
More and more foreign materials are entering the PET collection. PET Recycling Switzerland warns that contamination by foreign substances endangers the highly ecological bottle cycle and makes PET recycling more expensive. Technology alone cannot fix this, it is up to the Swiss. A new campaign aims to use humor to encourage the population to dispose of plastic and PET bottles correctly.
PET beverage bottles are food packaging and must therefore meet the highest requirements for cleanliness and purity. The degree of purity of the recyclate must be 99.96 percent at the end of the recycling process. This value is only possible with separate collection. The Federal Office for Food Safety (FSVO) even requires that only PET beverage bottles collected by type may be used for recycling in the bottle cycle. This regulation serves to protect consumers.
Sorting plants do not solve the problem
If foreign substances get into the PET collection, the PET beverage bottles become contaminated with residual liquids (e.g. shampoo, cleaning agents, etc.). Even the two new sorting plants in Frauenfeld and Grandson, which are among the most modern in the world, cannot subsequently change this situation. The higher the foreign matter load, the more complex it is to achieve the required degree of purity. In extreme cases, the speed of the sorting plants has to be reduced by up to 25 percent and manual sorting intensified. The foreign materials that are sorted out also have to be disposed of at high cost - a burdening development for the entire recycling system.
Only one measure helps: separate properly
The separate collection is the basis for the further recycling process. It is essential to note that only PET beverage bottles belong in the blue-yellow collection containers. If in doubt, these three questions will help: Is it PET? Was there a beverage in it? Is it a bottle? Only if all three questions can be answered with "yes" does the bottle belong in the PET collection.
All other plastic bottles can be recycled in a separate recycling process from PET thanks to the separate plastic bottle collection by Migros and Coop. The rest belongs in the trash and under no circumstances in the separate collections.
Plastic bottle collection by wholesalers makes it easier for consumers to separate their PET and plastic bottles at the beginning of the recycling process. Proper separation at the source strengthens PET recycling.
Text: kw/PET Recycling Switzerland
